


Stolen Hearts

by robotjellyfish



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Multi, sourinai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 23:05:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3627648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotjellyfish/pseuds/robotjellyfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the notoriously hard to catch kidnappers Rin and Sousuke are fooled into kidnapping under cover cop Ai they end up 'stealing' more than they bargained for</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is another fic for a promt that got way out of hand. The promt was a 'partners in crime au' I hope you enjoy it

“Sousuke I’m bored,” Rin whined, with his body slumped over and his head resting on the dining room table Rin was the picture of discontent. Sousuke scowled at his boyfriend sure Rin was only complaining because it was his turn to do the dishes and he was trying to get out of it. Resisting the urge to kick Rin’s chair out from under him Sousuke gave a disinterested shrug in reply and went back to reading his paper.

 

“Sousukeeee,” not happy with being ignored Rin scooted his chair closer to Sousuke, lifting his head from the table Rin flopped to the side landing heavily against the dark haired man’s side. 

 

“Sousuke I’m bored,” he repeated, lifting his head so he was shouting directly into Sousuke’s ear. There was no way he could ignore him now. 

 

The dark haired fan flinched, a vein in his temple throbbing but he refused to look away from his paper. He gave the paper a firm shake, flattening out the pages and carried on reading. Rin could feel the tension in his body though, like a coil Sousuke was wound up and soon he would snap. Rin was winning. 

 

“It’s still your turn to do the dishes,” was Sousuke’s disgruntled reply. Rin’s scowl deepened. 

 

“That’s not the point Sousuke!” He whined, pressing harder against the other almost tipping him out of the chair. 

 

“We haven’t done a job for a while, I’m bored!” 

 

With a sigh Sousuke finally closed his paper, folding it up deliberately slowly he carefully placed it on the table before turning his attention to Rin. 

 

“We have enough money left, we don’t need to,” which wasn't entirely true, they would need to do another job eventually but right now Sousuke was clearly disinterested and annoyed at being interrupted while reading. 

 

“Aww come on it’ll be fun,” Rin insisted, refusing to give up. 

 

“No it won’t it’ll be a pain in the ass. It’s nearly always some pampered little princess who ends up falling in love with one of us, you know what happened last time,” he said pointedly, really they needed to find a new way to earn their money, but Rin refused to take the hint. 

 

“Well who can blame them we’re both really hot!” Rin boasted, his smug smile quickly disappearing as Sousuke’s scowl deepened. 

 

“Ok ok but why don’t we just kidnap a boy this time? That will solve the problem!” 

 

“It will still be a pain, although I suppose we could just keep them blindfolded the whole time,” Sousuke mused, a sly smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. 

 

“We can’t do that!” Rin gasped, “I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing,” he tried to shoot Sousuke a disapproving look but the dark haired man’s suggestive smirk only grew and Rin had to quickly look away his face flushed. 

 

Sousuke was clearly trying to throw him off track and he wouldn’t allow it! Shaking his head sharply to dislodge the suggestive images Sousuke’s smirk had bought to mind Rin stubbornly met the other’s gaze, trying to ignore how hot his cheeks felt. 

 

“Come on, another job would be great. Nothing interesting has happened for so long I bet you’re bored too,” he challenged trying a different tactic now.

 

“Unlike you Rin, I don’t have the attention span of a goldfish so no, I’m not bored,” Sousuke teased, refusing to rise to the bait. 

 

“You’re just afraid of getting caught,” Rin huffed, crossing his arm he sank back into his chair sulkily. 

 

“Well I really would rather not go to jail. But I guess another job wouldn’t hurt,” he sighed finally, giving in mostly just to keep Rin happy. Agreeing to another job would be much easier that dealing with a sulky Rin. 

 

Now they (i.e. Sousuke) would need to scout out a new target. 

 

“What a pain in the ass,” he grumbled, picking up his paper again so he wouldn’t have to look at Rin’s smug victorious grin. 

 

\- 

 

“They haven’t been active for a while but judging from the usual time frame between all their previous crimes we’re sure another is imminent. So that’s why we need to create a target for them they can’t resist.” 

 

Ai listened with only half his attention, the other half was busy thinking of ways he could worm his way out of this. As a new officer he didn’t really have the authority to outright refuse a direct order from a superior or say that he thought the plan was stupid. Plus if he took on the job it would open more chances of a promotion and further his opportunities in the force. But, he really didn’t want to do this job. 

 

“That’s why officer Nitori is perfect for this job! With his youthful cute looks he can easily pass for 16!” The office giving the briefing cooed enthusiastically and Ai felt as if he’d been slapped. The main reason he didn’t want to take his job was precisely because of this. His looks had always been a bit of a sore spot for him, he wanted to be someone people could look up too, strong and dependable but instead he was the shortest and most slender person on the entire force. And of course he couldn’t get away from the fact that his face was more cute than intimidating and now they wanted to send him undercover to pose as a 16 year old kid. It was all very disheartening. 

 

There were small murmurs of agreement and the other officers in the room smiled at him. Ai’s cute looks and fierce determination endeared him instantly to anyone who met him and now everyone adored him, watching over him with constant gentle smiles. He knew they were only being kind, that they weren’t intentionally looking down at him but still those smiles always felt a little condescending making Ai squirm uncomfortably. 

 

“But won’t this be dangerous for Ai-chan?” One of the officers piped up. Ai clenched his fists irritably and bit on his lip. 

 

“These men have never hurt any of their captives so the risk is minimal. We believe as long as things go smoothly and we don’t give them any reason to be suspicious officer Nitori will be perfectly fine.” 

 

“But what if they….do things to Ai,” one of the other officers added. Ai scowled his frustration rising. He couldn’t keep quiet any longer. 

 

“I am perfectly capable of handling myself. My training will allow me to get out of any dangerous situation I may find myself in,” Ai responded stubbornly. He really didn’t want to do this job, but people thinking he might not be able to handle it made him have second thoughts. He’d take on the job and show them, he’d bring in the perpetrators all on his own! 

 

“That’s the spirit officer!” Everyone cheered and Ai wondered for a moment if he’d been had. He hadn’t exactly been very enthusiastic about the whole mission so far. Feeling rather peeved but doing his best to hide it Ai focused on the rest of the briefing. 

 

\- 

 

“This is our target,” a few weeks after Rin’s initial suggestion they were sat in the kitchen eating breakfast again. Sousuke nonchalantly slid a photograph across the table to the red head and Rin snatched it up eagerly. 

 

“Oh, a boy? He’s cute,” Rin grinned. 

 

“Don’t smile like that at his photo, it’s creepy.”

 

“It’s not creepy I’m just making an observation, he is cute look at him!” Rin held up the photo defiantly, waving it in front of Sousuke. 

 

“Whatever,” with a bored sigh Sousuke waved off the photo Rin was shaking at him. “The kid’s only recently come home from studying abroad for several years so the parents should be pretty quick and compliant about paying up.” 

 

“It they’re used to him being away they might not pay up at all,” Rin added, though he was only joking. 

 

“If we ever find parents like that I will make it my personal mission to clear out their bank account and give all the money to the poor brat,” Sousuke replied darkly and Rin laughed. 

 

“You really are a good guy Sousuke!” His ears taking on a slight pink hue Sousuke ignored Rin’s comment and snatched the photo from him. 

 

“It doesn’t look like he has any sort of body guard or chauffeur to cart him around so he should be pretty easy to snatch,” he quickly changed the subject though Rin was still grinning and laughing at him. 

 

“So when do we go?” 

 

“We should tail him for a couple of days, just to make sure. Then when we know it’s safe we’ll make our move.” 

 

\- 

 

His name was Harunori Miyata, the 16 year old son of the wealthy Miyata family. Scowling, Ai tugged at the cuff of the fancy, uncomfortable shirt he was wearing. The clothes were smart, expensive and, in his opinion, completely impractical. But he had to look that part. He also had to act the part which was why he’d been living with the Miyata family for several weeks now. He had no contact with his colleagues or friends, he couldn’t even talk to his real family and it was starting to get to him. Where were these kidnappers? Why hadn’t they struck yet? Did he have to go out and find them himself?! 

 

“I’m going for a walk,” he called as he strode through the big house, wondering if anyone could actually hear him or even cared. It didn’t really matter anyway; it was his job to be out as much as possible. He would be an easier target that way. 

 

There was nothing much for him to really do while he was out. He wished that the force had at least considered placing some fake ‘friends’ for him to hang out with. Even if they were just for show it would have been nice to have someone to talk to. 

 

Glumly he made his way to the local bookshop, wondering how many time a day he could visit before it got weird. He’d already flicked through all the magazines out that month and now all he had left to do was stand around for a few hours reading manga and maybe buying a book or two. 

 

“Hey excuse me are you from around here?” Looking up Ai suddenly found a tall red head blocking his way. The man looked to be in his mid-twenties, probably around the same age as Ai really was. He was attractive, dressed fashionably in comfortable clothes that really made him seem out of place in this area. Despite his unusual sharp teeth the friendly smile put Ai at ease and he jumped into conversation with the stranger without a second thought. Plus this was the first person his own age he’d spoken to in weeks. 

 

“Yes I am. Is there anything I can help you with?” 

 

“Yeah, I’m a little lost so I was hoping you could tell me how to get to the station,” the red head replied, shooting Ai a sheepish grin as he scratched the back of his head. Ai felt his heart to do a little skip. The man was attractive and cute and definitely his type. 

 

“That’s not too far from here although it can be a little confusing. Would you like me to show you the way?” 

 

“That would be fantastic, but are you sure you don’t mind? I don’t want to trouble you.” 

 

“I’m not busy or anything so it’s fine. My name is Harunori Miyata, what’s yours?” 

 

“Haru huh?” Rin seemed to hesitate over the name for a moment, a flash of something darkening his features but it was gone a moment later and he was smiling again. 

 

“Nice to meet you Haru my name’s Rin.” Ai smiled, saying nothing about the fact Rin had just shortened his name like that. I wasn’t as if it were his real name anyway so he didn’t care. 

 

The prefecture Ai found himself in was a rather small, quiet area. There were few people around even during the day and most of them were happy enough to mind their own business and stay out of each other’s way so a stranger who didn’t know his way around was quite unusual. This should have been Ai’s first warning. But Rin was so charismatic and charming he found himself easily falling into conversation with him, walking along to the station as if they’d been friends for a long time. 

 

When the car slowed down and pulled up beside them Ai began to feel a prickle of suspicion. But by then it was too late.

 

“Hey Rin, there you are I’ve been looking all over for you!” The driver called and Rin quickly moved over to the car, Ai following against his better judgement. 

 

“Sou! Sorry I got lost, but my friend Haru here was just showing me the way,” Rin suddenly threw an arm around Ai, pulling him close and down towards the window. Ai barely had time to glance at the man in the driver’s seat before he felt a hand clamp around his mouth, a chemical smell filling his nostrils and suddenly he was getting dizzy. 

 

His gasp of surprise only drew the chemicals deeper into lungs and even as he tried to twist out of Rin’s grip he could feel himself getting weaker. 

 

“Think you can give him a lift back? He walked me this far after all,” Rin still kept up the act, his grip on Ai tightening as the other started to go limp, keeping him upright. 

 

“Sure, hop in,” the dark haired man replied as if nothing was wrong and Rin quickly bundled both himself and Ai into the back seat. 

 

“Great…now where should we take you?” Rin looked down at his captive, but Ai was already unconscious his head lolling to the side. 

 

“He’s out,” Rin said, buckling Ai into the seat he pulled the boy towards him resting Ai’s head against his shoulder so it would simply look as if he were sleeping. 

 

“Did anyone see you?” 

 

“Nah this place is dead, there was no one around.” With a satisfied nod Sousuke stared the car up and they were gone. 

 

-

 

Ai woke a few hours later, still groggy and unable to move. It took him a few moments to even remember what had happened, to remember that he was undercover now and not back at home in his own bed waking up after a long night of drinking with his friends. 

 

He groaned, trying to move his arms only to find they were tied behind his back. His legs were bound together at the ankles too. Although the restraints weren’t tight his body was already aching from lying in a strange position for so long and he longed to just stretch. 

 

“Hey, are you awake?” The voice reached Ai through a thick haze, it was familiar. The voice of the red head he’d met on the street earlier. So he was one of the kidnappers. The mission has started successfully. 

 

Slowly forcing his eyes open Ai was finally able to focus and take in his surroundings. He was lying on his side in a bed, which actually felt very soft and comfortable, the room was dark so he couldn’t make much out but he could see the figure of Rin sat at the bedside, watching him carefully. 

 

“Where am I?” 

 

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,” Rin replied cheerfully, “but don’t worry we won’t hurt you and as soon as your parents cough up quickly you’ll be able to go home!” 

 

“And what…if they don’t…” Ai’s voice shook with a fear he didn’t have to fake. He had been prepared for this mission, briefed time and time again and given all the advice and help he needed but living this kidnapping was something else entirely. He was afraid. The fact that Rin made no effort to hide his face made him nervous, if all the other victims had seen their captors face why hadn’t they told the police? Were there the people they were after? Now that he’d seen their face would they really let him go? 

 

“They’ll pay,” Rin dismissed his question with a smile either not noticing Ai’s fear or choosing to ignore it. 

 

“Now, your arms must be pretty sore by now right? If you promise not to make a break for it I’ll untie you, I mean you won’t get very far anyway, all the door and windows are locked, so there’s really no point.” It wasn’t really a threat, Rin’s voice was still quite warm and friendly but even so Ai couldn’t help but shiver. He nodded; he wasn’t even sure if he could stand yet anyway let alone run. 

 

“Good,” Rin quickly untied Ai, helping the other sit up when he saw how groggy he was. 

 

“Guess I over did it a little huh? Sorry. It’ll go soon; do you want a drink of water or anything?” Rin’s hand was still on his back, holding him up. His hand was warm and gentle. 

 

“Yes please…” 

 

Then Rin’s hand was gone as he moved to grab a bottle of water from the bed side table which he had obviously been keeping there ready. Opening it he handed the bottle and cap to Ai. Ai took a few small, careful sips before closing the bottle again, gripping it tightly he allowed the cold of the chilled bottle to sink into his skin helping him to wake up. 

 

He’d been kidnapped. Rin seemed pretty kind and unthreatening for a criminal; he was probably safe for now. Judging by how dark it was it was night. He couldn’t hear any sounds of traffic or people so where ever they were they were probably away from busy areas. There was at least one more person, the man who’d been driving. The little that they did know about the criminals was that there were only two of them, so it all fitted together. The house was quiet, he couldn’t hear any other voices so it probably was just Rin and the man who’d been driving which meant he’d found his target. 

 

Ai slowly gathered his thought, clinging onto the water bottle, he was so quiet Rin was getting worried and suddenly Ai felt the bed dip as Rin sat beside him and place a hand against his forehead.

 

“Hey you’re not feeling sick or anything, are you?”

 

“I’m fine,” Ai squeaked, startled at the sudden touch, “I just…still feel a bit dizzy that’s all….I’m fine.” 

 

“Well ok if you’re sure. Are you hungry? We’re going to eat soon.” 

 

“Yeah…” Ai replied slowly, he was hungry although the idea of eating with his captors sounded rather daunting. The way Rin spoke it was as if he were all going to sit around the dinner table together and have a nice family dinner. 

 

“Great, it’s Sou’s turn to cook tonight and he’s a great cook. Follow me,” Rin got up, leading the way out the room and towards a small kitchen. As they made their way through the house Ai noted that the building seemed to be single storied and old fashioned. It had been done up to be inhabitable but didn’t really look like a home. They probably didn’t live here permanently. 

 

In the kitchen Ai was finally able to get a good look at the dark haired man who’d been driving the car. He was taller than Rin, muscular and sporting a dark scowl that made him look far more intimidating than Rin although the effect was thrown off slightly by the fact he was currently stood at the stove wearing an apron with cartoon sharks printed all over it. 

 

“He’s awake!” Rin announced throwing himself into one of the dining room chairs. Ignoring the red head Sousuke glanced over his shoulder at Ai, looking him up and down once before he spoke. 

 

“Do you have any allergies?” 

 

“Huh?” 

 

“You know, like nuts or something,” Sousuke snipped shortly. 

 

“Oh right, no. No allergies.” 

 

“Good, we wouldn’t want you blowing up like a balloon. Now sit.” Sousuke tone left no room for argument so Ai quickly sat at the table, taking the seat opposite Rin. 

 

“Don’t mind Sousuke, he’s just grumpy because he lost at rock paper scissors again,” Rin chuckled, earning a glare from the other man. 

 

Sousuke and Rin were not what Ai had expected. They seemed so normal and almost nice except for the imprisoning him against his will thing, but then again Ai knew that the ones who seemed most normal were the ones he needed to watch out for. Rin was treating him as more of a friend than a captive and so far didn’t seem the least bit threatening. Sousuke, he felt, he needed to be more cautious of and yet is was hard to find a man wearing such a cute apron threatening at all no matter how much he scowled. 

 

“Now then Haru do you have any foods you really don’t like?” Rin asked jovially, still grinning at Ai. But Ai had notice again the slight hesitation in Rin’s voice as he said his name, almost as if he were forcing himself to say it. He’d even noticed Sousuke quickly glance over to Rin before returning to what he was doing. What was so wrong with the name? Why didn’t Rin just call him by his family name anyway, it would be the polite thing to do. Or maybe they knew the name was a fake, had they already figured it out? But no, if that was the case they wouldn’t be acting like this. Would they?

 

Ai was a bundle of nerves his mind rushing to all the worst case scenarios. He needed to calm down before he did anything stupid that would reveal his identity. He took a deep breath, silently telling himself that it was ok, that he would be ok, he just needed to stick to the plan. Ai gave a small shake of his head. 

 

“Nothing in particular, I’ll eat anything,” he replied amiably, still a little on edge. 

 

“Okay, good.”

 

The conversation died off there. There really wasn’t much else to say and it was rather hard to keep up such a friendly conversation in a situation like this. An awkward silence fell that not even Rin could fill. 

 

Sousuke came to the rescue a few moments later, wordlessly placing a bowl of steaming nikujaga down in front of Ai. The sudden appearance of Sousuke as his side with the food made Ai jump, but the other man was gone, moving to Rin’s side of the table with another bowl, before Ai could react any further. 

 

“Thank you…” Ai mumbled belatedly, looking down at the food he made no attempt to eat even as Sousuke joined them at the table and both he and Rin eagerly dug into their meal. 

 

“Something wrong?” Rin asked, looking up from his own meal as he noticed Ai wasn’t eating. 

 

“No…” Ai shook his head, though still stared at the bowl warily. What if they had poisoned the food or slipped something into it? His head still felt fuzzy and right now everything was making him feel suspicious. 

 

“It’s not poisoned,” Sousuke said bluntly, dipping his spoon into Ai’s bowl he helped himself to a good helping, eating without a second of hesitation, “see.” 

 

“Sou don’t be so snappy, you’re scaring him!” Rin chided as Ai, surprised that Sousuke had apparently read his mind, sat bolt upright his posture even stiffer than ever. 

 

“I promise there’s nothing wrong with the food, so eat ok.” Rin coaxed with an encouraging smile. Sousuke sighed, still glowering though he seemed to be making some effort to school his expression into a slightly more neutral one. 

 

Well Sousuke had eaten some of the food from his bowl. It was probably safe. And they had asked him if he had any allergies which suggested they didn’t want to hurt him. Settling these thought in his head Ai took another deep breath, giving a small nod he picked up his spoon and began to eat.  
“This is good,” he said after the first bite, surprise evident in his voice. 

 

“I told you Sousuke was a good cook!” Rin said proudly. Sousuke meanwhile was doing a very good job of staring at his own bowl and not looking at either of them almost as if he were embarrassed. 

 

Ai couldn’t help but smile at that, and slowly he let his guard down. 

 

\- 

 

After their meal Rin suggested they play a board game. 

 

“A game?” Ai asked, incredulously. Was this really the time for that? 

 

“Sure, beats sitting around doing nothing right and we have a great collection of games here!” Rin replied enthusiastically. They were in the living room now; Sousuke had made himself comfortable on the sofa while Ai had awkwardly curled himself up in one of the arm chairs. 

 

“We’re not playing monopoly,” was Sousuke’s only input, to which Rin scowled. 

 

“You never let me play monopoly.” 

 

“The last time we played monopoly you tried to set the board on fire. We’re not playing monopoly.” 

 

“It was just the one time,” Rin defended sulkily, though he knew from Sousuke’s tone that the other man wouldn’t budge. Monopoly was out. 

 

“How about you pick the game then Haru?” he offered, looking over at Ai. 

 

“Ok,” Ai replied, with only a little hesitation. He’d managed to lose most of his nerves and suspicions over dinner but he was still a little wary, plus the fact Rin had suggested they play a game at all had thrown him. This was starting to feel more like a sleepover party than a kidnapping. 

 

Ai shuffled over to the other side of the room, studying the collection of board games that had haphazardly been thrown onto the shelves.

 

“How about cluedo*?” he suggested, which was maybe not the best choice given the situation but Ai couldn’t help but see the irony in it. 

 

“Sure, sounds good,” Rin agreed taking the game from Ai he went to set everything up on the coffee table. Once everything was ready and they picked their pieces the game began. 

 

\- 

 

They played a few rounds of cluedo, Sousuke surprising Ai by being very good at the game and winning most of the time. Rin, when he wasn’t doing a poor job of hiding the fact he’d managed to figure something out, spent most of his time trying to trick Sousuke into reaching the wrong conclusion and so had lost every single game. Ai managed to kept at least some of his pride as a detective and won several games. 

 

“Well that’s enough for one night!” Rin announce sulkily as he suddenly began to pack the game away after another loss. 

 

“It’s getting pretty late now, you should go off to bed,” Rin added, glancing at Ai. It was obvious he was only fishing for an excuse to end the game and hide the fact he was pouting. His expression softened though when Ai replied by stifling a yawn. 

 

“Sousuke has night watch so be good. I’ll be in the living room if you need me,” Rin grinned his surliness gone.

 

“Night watch?” There was no reply, and when Sousuke began to walk toward the door giving a jerk of his head that clearly said ‘follow’ Ai had no choice but to comply. Sousuke lead him to the bathroom first, wordlessly handing him a clean toothbrush and some too big pajamas to change into. 

 

“Umm…thank you,” Ai replied meekly. The dark haired man would not leave the bathroom while Ai got ready for bed, but he did have the good grace to turn his back when Ai used the toilet and got changed. 

 

Ai soon found out the answer to his question when Sousuke lead him back to the bedroom, waiting for Ai to get into the bed before climbing in himself. 

 

“Wait, what are you doing!?” Startled Ai hugged the covers to himself, as if they would somehow protect him from whatever this was. Sousuke cast him a side long glare before turning on his side, his back to Ai. 

 

“Someone has to keep watch over you,” he explained simply, “I have absolutely no interest in touching you or doing anything to you so you can relax,” he added bluntly. The frank rejection, while reassuring did feel a little like a slap in the face. 

 

“Right…good night,” still apprehensive but not really in a position to do anything about it Ai shuffled down under the covers, moving as far over to the other side of the bed as he could without falling off. He lay right on the edge, tense and uncomfortable. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

He eventually managed to drift off to sleep, waking the next morning bleary eyed and confused. Forgetting where he was Ai, for a blissful few seconds, though he was at home safe in his own bed. He rolled over, promptly falling off the edge of the bed with a yelp and a loud thud dragging the blankets with him.

 

“Are you ok?” Sousuke’s head appeared over the edge of the bed, looking completely unconcerned ha stared down at Ai who was now lying on the floor in a tangle of blankets. 

 

“Fine…just fine…” he mumbled, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment. Well that had certainly woken him up and bought him back to reality.

 

“Would you like a hand?” Sousuke asked, though he made no move to help and instead continued to stare down at Ai.

 

“No no, I can manage,” Ai replied quickly. With some frantic waving of his arms and legs Ai was finally able to disentangle himself and get to his feet.

 

Seeing that Ai was fine Sousuke, who had apparently been awake for a while reading a book, got out of bed too.

 

“Would you like a bath? We have some spare clothes you can borrow,” he offered.

 

“That would be great,” Ai sighed, the prospect of a bath and some fresh clothes sounded heavenly right now and as long as he didn’t have to wear that ridiculously uncomfortable fancy shirt again he would wear anything they gave him.

 

\- -

 

The bathroom was a typical Japanese type bathroom with a small shower set against one wall with a stool stood in front of it to wash at before sliding into the nice warm bath. As further proof that no one really lived here Ai noted that the bath was empty and completely spotless. It looked as if it hadn't been used for a while, all the bottles lined up near the shower looked brand new too.

 

Ai was in for another surprise when Sousuke followed him to the bathroom, and then stood awkwardly in the doorway while Ai filled the bath.

 

“Umm…could you at least close the door?” he asked hopefully, hoping that Sousuke would get the hint and at least give him some privacy for this.

 

“Oh…right,” there was some quick, awkward shuffling and the door closed with a click. Sousuke was still in the bathroom, Ai stared at him.

 

“Why are you on this side of the door?”

 

“Someone…has to keep an eye on you,” Sousuke replied, though he didn't sounding too sure himself.

 

“I’ll keep my back turned,” he promised quickly, as if that made it all ok. It didn’t.

 

Ai felt his felt his face heat up, there was no way he was going to take a bath in front of anyone, and no way he was going to go any longer without taking one.

 

“Get out!” he yelled, embarrassment winning over any common sense and any fear that lingered, he grabbed the nearest thing to him and threw it at the dark haired man. The attack caught him off guard, the bottle hitting him square in the chest.

 

“But…” Sousuke had little time to retaliate as Ai grabbed the little stool that usually sat in front of the shower and threw that too. Sousuke had enough time to duck this time and the stool neatly sailed over his head and clattered against the closed door.

 

“You can wait outside the door, or get a guard dog or lock the door or whatever. The windows are locked right so just get the hell out!” Ai yelled, throwing another bottle.

 

Quickly sensing that this was a losing battle Sousuke did the only sensible thing he could do. He got out of the line of fire. He opened the door just enough to slip through and out of the room then closed it smartly behind him.

 

“Right…So I’ll stay out here,” he called, “but you need to talk to me the whole time so I know you’re still there.”

 

Ai, his anger and embarrassment slowly abating sighed. It was a fair compromise.

 

“Ok, fine. But what should I talk about?” he asked as he gathered up the items he’d thrown at Sousuke and put them back in their place. He should probably apologise for that later.

 

“Anything.”

 

“Umm…well. I know a lot about ducks?”

 

\- -

 

Ai spent the length of his shower rattling off all the facts he knew about ducks, answering as many of Sousuke’s questions as he could. Then he slid into the fresh, clean water of the bath to enjoy its warmth for a few minutes while Sousuke talk to him about sharks, a subject he seemed to know quite a bit about.

 

It was certainly one of the most unusual bath times he’d had but the conversation had actually been pretty fun, no one ever wanted to hear him talk about ducks.

 

“Can you pass me some clean clothes?” He asked when he was done, there was a shuffle of footsteps then a moment later the door opened a tiny crack as Sousuke carefully shoved a pair of neatly folder sweat pants and a t-shirt through the gap. 

 

“Thank you,” Ai replied brightly, taking the clothes he changed quickly and stepped out of the bathroom.

 

“Oh…sorry,” Sousuke muttered, looking down at Ai sheepishly when he saw him. The clothes were even bigger on him than the pyjamas had been and not even close to his size. The sweat pants were far too long and baggy, Ai had had to roll up the bottoms several time so he didn’t trip over them, the draw string pulled tight and tied firmly around his waist to keep them on his hips. The neck of the shirt gapped and barely clung to his shoulder on one side. He looked like a boy playing dress up in his parent’s clothes.

 

“Its fine, it’s not like I’m going out to a fancy dinner or anything besides they’re comfy,” Ai said with a shrug, causing the shirt to slip even further down his shoulder. Sousuke quickly looked away, blushing.

 

\- -

 

They made their way over to the living room, Sousuke smacking Rin lightly across the head as he walked in.

 

“Don’t sleep when you’re on guard duty.”

 

“I heard you getting up, a nap won’t hurt,” Rin sulked, sleepily rubbing his eyes.

 

“Get some sleep, the bed is free.” Rin nodded in reply, getting up he stopped when he saw Ai and a moment later was bent double with laughter.

 

“What the hell Sou he's drowning in those clothes. Where did you get them?” he howled.

 

“I gave him something old of mine…I didn’t think they would be that big on him,” Sousuke mumbled, Ai felt himself blush self-consciously at the comment.

 

“Oh well, you look cute anyway,” Rin laughed, patting Ai on the head.

 

“I’m going to catch some ‘Z’s now then, keep the noise down you two,” he called cheerfully, casting a meaningful look at Sousuke. He had heard the whole incident in the bathroom.

 

Ignoring Rin Sousuke turned his attention to Ai.

 

“So what would you like for breakfast?”

 

“Umm… how about I cook? I’m not too bad at it,” Ai offered, thinking it would help make up for earlier.

 

Sousuke consider it for a moment then shrugged. What reason did he have to say no?

 

“Knock yourself out.”

 

\- -

 

Ai turned out to be a good cook and it made a nice change from cooking himself or attempting to eat whatever Rin served up.

 

“That was great,” he said approvingly, setting his cutlery down on the empty plate. Ai beamed proudly.

 

“Good, I’m glad you liked it.”

 

After that there wasn’t really much else to do but watch TV, play some card games and generally try not to be too loud so Rin could get some sleep. Ai found himself enjoying the time with Sousuke, who wasn’t nearly as stern as he first seemed. He was very careful not to talk about himself though, even when Ai tried to ask some relatively innocent questions, so Ai was unable to learn anything useful about him. Still, it seemed he would be here for a while, he had plenty of time.

 

\- -

 

“Sousuke, that’s cheating!” Rin sulked, glaring at the other man from across the table.

 

“Cheating?”

 

“It’s not fair you got to eat Haru’s cooking for breakfast and didn’t save any for me!”

 

“I can cook dinner for us as well?” Ai offered.

 

“You don’t need to do that just because he’s sulking,” Sousuke replied, though he was drowned out by Rin’s eager cry.

 

“Really!? That would be great! How about curry?” Sousuke frowned and Ai laughed. Honestly the two of them were more like a pair of children than some notorious kidnappers, how had they managed to evade capture for so long?

 

“Ok, curry it is!”

 

Ai didn’t really mind cooking it gave him something to do other than sitting around being ‘watched’ all the time. So he cooked for them, humming to himself all the while. The silence that fell in the kitchen now was a more comfortable one with Sousuke and Rin quietly watching Ai, lost in their own thoughts about the boy and Ai focused on preparing the meal.

 

\- 

 

“Hmm, your cooking might actually be better than Sou’s! This curry definitely beats his anyway,” Rin said after the first bite, earning another glare from Sousuke.

 

“Well curry is pretty easy to make,” Ai said modestly, though he was unable to hide the pleased flush in his cheeks. Sousuke’s scowl deepened.

 

“Rin still manages to burn it when he tries though.” Sousuke grumbled.

 

“Traitor!” the red head yelled indignantly. It was a lively dinner, way more lively that yesterday.

 

\- -

 

They spent the rest of the night playing games, Rin once again proving just how terrible he was at them.

 

“This game is rigged!” He said exasperatedly, throwing his cards down on the table.

 

“The game is not rigged, you just suck at hiding anything,” Sousuke sighed, putting his own cards down.

 

“But even so you still managed to win some games!” Ai chipped in encouragingly, shooting Rin a smile he hoped would placate him. It did help, somewhat. Rin’s scowl disappeared anyway though he still seemed a little upset.

 

“Just go to bed, it’s late,” Sousuke sighed softly, his comment directed toward both Ai and Rin. He was clearly a little fed up of dealing with them and getting tired himself, but his tone had still been kind.

 

So it was Rin’s turn to share the bed with him. Ai was expecting it this time so it didn’t come as such a shock when Rin led him to the bedroom and jumped into bed. He got ready without a word of complaint, getting into bed he made himself comfortable trying not to focus too much on how close Rin was. The red head clearly had no qualms about invading personal space and Ai was determined not to sleep on the edge of the bed tonight and risk falling out and embarrassing himself again.

 

“Well then, good night Haru,” Rin said softly turning his back to Ai he switched the lamp off and the room went dark. 

 

“Rin?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Why do you say my name like that?”

 

“Like what?” Rin tried to act as if he didn’t have a clue what Ai was talking about.

 

“Like...you’re remembering something painful.”

 

“Do I? I think I say it rather normally,” Rin tried to act nonchalant but he was a terribly liar. Ai could sense the tension I his body without even touching him. He was clearly hiding something.

 

“Hmm,” Ai gave a sceptical hum, clearly not believing him. Rin tensed, squirmed and eventually sighed. There was something in the boys tone and gaze he could just not escape.

 

“It’s just…I knew a Haru. He was one of my best friends,” he finally replied.

 

“I see, do I remind you of him?” Ai asked curiously.

 

“Not in the slightest. Just the name.” Rin answered bluntly, Ai quickly stifled a laugh into his pillow.

 

“Haru was always really quiet and serious. He could seem kinda cold sometimes but he was a really good guy. He was everything I wanted to be…everything I’m not. I was such an ass to him.”

 

“Was?”

 

“Oh he’s not dead or anything!” Rin was quickly, rolling over to face Ai.

 

“But we haven’t talked in a long time; he’d probably hate me if he saw me now.” Rin laughed, though there was a clear edge of pain in his voice.

 

“You like him?”

 

“Liked,” Rin replied blushing, “Haru and I never would have worked out. We were…are too different, and besides he already has someone.”

 

“Hmm,” Ai mumbled again, slowly taking in everything Rin had told him.

 

“But you’re dating Sousuke now, right?” he grinned as Rin’s blush deepened.

 

“Ah… so you figured it out?” he mumbled sheepishly. Ai laughed, it hadn’t been too hard to pick up the clues but maybe he was more likely to spot them than most. It was his job after all.

 

“You two are very cute together,” he teased, earning a playful shove from Rin.

 

They were silent for a few moments, Ai still pondering over the issue of his name.

 

‘You could just call me Ai’ he wanted to say. He would much rather have Rin call him by his real name anyway, and it would make things easier for the red head. He could just pretend it was a nick name but there was really no conceivable reason he would have a nick name like that. It wouldn’t fit at all.

 

“You could call me Nori instead? Or Miyata,” Ai suggested, though both names felt even worse than Haru.

 

“Those sound awful,” Rin laughed, echoing Ai’s own thoughts, “hmm, I could give you a cool nickname or something though.”

 

“That could work,” Ai agreed though he sounded a little uncertain, wondering what exactly Rin would come up with.

 

“Hmm,” Rin hummed thoughtfully, staring at Ai intently clearly deep in though. Then a sneaky grin tugged at his lips. “Ok then, from now on I’m going to calling you duckling!”

 

“….what?” It was Ai’s turn to blush now, a nickname was one thing but that just sounded too much like a cutesy pet name.

 

“You like ducks right? You were talking to Sou about them. It’s perfect!” Rin said proudly, his mind already made up.

 

“But still….that’s a bit too much,” Ai floundered, his blush growing darker.

 

“It suits you,” Rin laughed, ruffling Ai’s hair, “see your hair is all soft and fluffy like a little duckling.”

 

Ai groaned, unable to find any words to convey his embarrassment he simply buried his face into the pillow.

 

“Good night duckling,” Rin teased.

 

\- -

 

“Duckling?” Sousuke raised an eyebrow at the nickname, Rin grinned proudly in reply and Ai tried his best to hide behind the bowl he was eating from.

 

“Its perfect right, suits him to a ‘T’!” Rin crowed, unashamed. Sousuke silently agreed that yes it was cute but seeing that Ai was clearly having some trouble with this nickname he decided to give the poor boy a break.

 

“You have terrible sense as usual,” he said bluntly.

 

“Aww come on, you know I’m right!” Rin’s enthusiasm would not be dampened.

 

“I’m going to bed,” Sousuke announced tiredly, dropping his dirty bowl into the sink as he left the kitchen.

 

“Booo!” Rin scowled, upset that Sousuke hadn’t been as enthusiastic as he was about the new nickname. He would have loved to see the other call the boy by such a cute name. It would have been hilarious.

 

“Well, looks like you’re stuck with me for the rest of the day duckling, want to watch some movies?” he suggested with a grin.

 

“Please stop,” Ai sighed, though his protests were only half hearted by now. Rin was clearly not going to stop.

 

\- -

 

A day spent with Rin passed much the same as a day spent with Sousuke although Rin was far more talkative than his dark haired partner. They mostly watched movies. Rin’s taste in movies seemed to lean towards the weepy and romantic which was a poor choice really as Rin was also a big cry baby.

 

He sobbed his way through every movie they watched, but they were such honest tears Ai didn’t have the heart to tease the red head for them.

 

“Why don’t we watch a comedy next?” he suggested gently as Rin sniffled into a tissue.

 

“Ok, sure…” Rin mumbled. He’d done nothing to hide his tears, and Ai’s acceptance of them had only made it easier for him to cry. 

Sousuke joined them about half way through the next movie, by then Rin’s tears had dried up and his eyes were less red and puffy than they had been so Sousuke didn’t notice. He joined them on the sofa, staying with them to watch the end of the movie. They laughed together, the atmosphere becoming so relaxed and friendly Ai was starting to forget the situation he was in and the job he had to do.

 

“Right, I’m going to get dinner ready,” Sousuke announced when the movie was over, he got to his feet and disappeared into the kitchen a moment later leaving Ai and Rin alone again.

 

“Thank for not telling Sousuke about me crying earlier,” Rin whispered to Ai when he was sure Sousuke was out of ear shot.

 

Ai smiled in reply though any verbal response was suddenly cut off by a loud crashing sound from the kitchen followed by a string of curses from Sousuke.

 

“Sousuke are you ok?” Rin dashed to the kitchen, Ai following hot of his heels.

 

He’d only been trying to reach something from the top shelf. With his height it wasn’t even that far to reach, but it had been too much for his shoulder. Maybe he’d slept on it funny, or maybe it was because he’d neglected his rehabilitation exercises, either way his shoulder gave a sharp stab of protest as he lifted his arm up and everything had come crashing down.

 

He stood surrounded by the shatter mess of some dishes, his hand pressed over his sore shoulder.

 

“Sou…” Rin stopped in the doorway, blocking Ai’s view. Sousuke scowled, his eyes narrowing at Rin.

 

“It’s nothing, my hand slipped.” He said dismissively, his hand falling back to his side as he tried to pretend everything was ok.

 

“But…”

 

“I said I’m fine!” Sousuke’s shout startled Ai, making him take a step back. Rin scowled. Sousuke never allowed him to help when his shoulder was playing up, he wouldn’t even tell Rin it was sore. He still seemed determined to hide it from Rin, even though Rin knew all about it.

 

“Is everything ok?” Ai asked, trying to peek over Rin’s shoulder into the kitchen.

 

“It’s fine. Sousuke is just a giant klutz and dropped something,” Rin turned, grabbing Ai’s arm he dragged him back to the living room without another word to Sousuke.

 

“Come on, let’s watch another movie!”

 

Ai stumbled after Rin, not sure what else to do. He wanted to suggest they at least help Sousuke clean up but the demeanour of the other two men told him this wasn’t a good idea.

 

After that a tense atmosphere hung over dinner, with Sousuke and Rin not saying a word to each other and Ai not knowing how to break the tension. They ate in silence and spent the rest of the night silently watching TV.

 

\- -

 

Sousuke was still in a sour mood come bed time, he lay on his back in bed obviously trying to hide his discomfort. Ai couldn’t stand to watch him any longer.

 

“What happened? Did something fall on you?” He asked, sitting up in bed he looked down at Sousuke, studying him intently.

 

“It’s nothing.” Sousuke replied gruffly, trying to turn his back to Ai only to find out that was a very bad idea as another stab of pain shot through his shoulder.

 

“Your shoulder right,” Ai said, his gaze focusing on the injured shoulder. Sousuke had been favouring his other arm all evening. It wasn’t difficult for Ai to figure out where the injury was.

 

“It’ll be fine in the morning,” Sousuke dismissed Ai’s worry, hoping the boy would just give up.

 

“You should at least put something cold on it. I’ll go get you some ice,” Ai said defiantly, hopping onto his feet he was out of the room before Sousuke could make any move to grab him and stop him.

 

“Psst, Rin?” Ai called softly as he approached the living room, calling out to the red head who was on guard so he wouldn’t think he was making a break for it.

 

“Hmm, what are you doing up and about so late?”

 

“I need some ice for Sousuke’s shoulder.”

 

“He’s letting you help?” Rin’s expression was one of disbelief. 

 

“He will,” Ai said stubbornly, an edge to his voice that suggested Sousuke wouldn’t like what happened to him if he refused. Rin couldn’t help but laugh, the boy was tiny and half Sousuke size. He posed very little threat but Rin was sure even Sousuke could not go against him when he looked like that.

 

“Follow me.” Rin led Ai to the kitchen, passing him an ice pack from the freezer along with a clean dish towel to wrap around it.

 

“Here take this too,” Rin added, passing Ai a bottle of tiger balm, “He never tells me what he needs but I think that should at least help.”

 

Ai nodded.

 

“And duckling…take care of him for me ok.” Rin said softly. He was clearly worried about Sousuke and annoyed that he wasn’t allowed to help.

 

“I will,” Ai promised softly, shooting Rin a quick smile before heading back to the bedroom.

 

Sousuke had his eyes closed, clearly trying to pretend to be asleep. Ai wasn’t falling for it.

 

“Sit up!” he ordered, tugging the blanket off Sousuke in one quick motion. The dark haired man scowled and considered ignoring the order but the look in those sharp blue eyes stopped him.

 

“Okay…” he grumbled, grudgingly pushing himself up into a sitting position. Ai grabbed the pillows, fluffing them up behind Sousuke back to make him comfy.

 

“Take your shirt off,” he ordered again. Sousuke stared at the boy, feeling himself grow red but the stubborn, no nonsense expression on Ai’s face gave him no room to argue.

 

“Okay okay,” still grumbling Sousuke carefully pulled his shit off, winching again his shoulder complained. He felt Ai’s hand then, gently guiding his arm and helping to pull he shirt off with minimal discomfort.

 

With the shirt gone Ai was able to get a good look at the injury and he gasped, the shoulder was red, swollen and clearly painful.

 

“You idiot,” he mumbled under his breath, grabbing the ice pack he quickly wrapped it in the towel, pressing it against Sousuke’s shoulder without any warning causing the other man to draw in a sharp breath.

 

“Hold that there for a while,” Ai’s tone was a little kinder now, though he was still mad. Sousuke did as he was told, holding he ice pack in place as Ai sat down beside him and pulled the blanket over them again so they wouldn’t get cold.

 

“That didn’t happen today did it?” Sousuke shook his head.

 

“And you haven’t been looking after it properly?” Again a shake of the head.

 

“Rin’s worried about you you know,” Ai was staring at him now, fixing him with a steady gaze that made Sousuke squirm.

 

“I know,” he replied guiltily. Of course he knew, but he didn’t want Rin to worry. This wasn’t Rin’s problem. His shoulder injury had already cost Rin enough grief. But the more he tried to hide it the more Rin worried, he couldn’t win.

 

“Let me see again?” Ai asked after a few long moments of silence. Sousuke cautiously moved the ice pack away from his shoulder, tensing as Ai moved closer for a better look.

 

“Hmm, it’s still pretty swollen,” he mumbled with a frown, “let’s try putting some of that tiger balm stuff on it.”

 

Sousuke visibly flinched; he hated the prospect of anyone touching his shoulder but Ai had already grabbed he small bottle and smeared some of the balm onto his fingers.

 

“Don’t worry I’ll be careful,” he added reassuringly, noticing how tense Sousuke had become. It did nothing to help Sousuke relax. But Ai’s touch was gentle, light and oh so careful. He rubbed the balm into Sousuke’s shoulder with the tips of his fingers, using small circles to work it in as gently as possible.

 

Sousuke never really allowed anyone to touch his shoulder. Even the doctors he’d only allowed begrudgingly but then he’d gotten sick of that and stopped going to his appointments. He found himself relaxing under Ai’s touch however, the tension slowly leaving his body, but then he flinched as Ai’s fingers brushed over a particularly sensitive spot and cursed lightly under his breath.

 

“Oh don’t be a baby,” Ai teased, and even Sousuke managed a smile.

 

“There all done!” Ai said proudly.

 

“You’re pretty good at this,” Sousuke commented, holding the ice pack to his shoulder again.

 

“Well I used to be a part of the swim club in high school so I’m used to dealing with injuries,” he replied self-consciously, though he was obviously pleased.

 

“Used to?” Sousuke frowned at Ai’s odd choice of words, and Ai felt his heart race in panic. He’d almost completely forgotten his cover story.

 

“Ah I mean well I’m not really good at it so I had to quit, so I’m not in the club anymore, hehe,” he laughed nervously, hoping Sousuke would buy the hurried lie.

 

“Hmm. I’m sure you could improve; you just need the right people to teach you. If you’re seniors and captain didn’t help properly you then you were just stuck with a bad team,” Sousuke replied defiantly not missing the irony in his own words. If he hadn’t been so selfish in his own swim club days he might not have gotten this injury.

 

“Hmm, maybe,” Ai hummed, fluffing up the pillow behind Sousuke again.

 

“Now you should keep your shoulder elevated, so try sleeping like this if you can. Do you have anything to wrap around it?”

 

“No…I forgot to bring anything,” Sousuke replied, avoiding Ai’s gaze guiltily. Ai was scowling again, his eyes narrowed dangerously. The kid was making him squirm and suddenly Sousuke felt like the child.

 

“Sorry…” he mumbled.

“Well there’s nothing we can do about it now. But pick some bandages or something up when you can ok.” Ai huffed before flopping down on the bed.

 

“Don’t you need a pillow?” Sousuke asked as he suddenly noticed Ai had pilled all the pillows behind him, leaving himself without one.

 

“I’m fine,” Ai replied snuggling down under the covers he made himself comfortable.

 

“Right..” Sousuke mumbled trying not to focus on the fact that Ai’s head was now resting close to his hip. But it was very distracting. He was sure he wouldn’t be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight.

 

\- -

 

Once he’d finally managed to drift off Sousuke slept quite soundly, though Ai woke with an uncomfortable crick in his neck.

 

“This is what you get for sleeping without a pillow,” Sousuke admonished, it was his turn to be the strict one now.

 

“I know,” Ai groaned, rubbing his neck, frowning.

 

“Morning,” Rin called cheerfully as the pair of them walked into the living room, his eyes darting cautiously to Sousuke. There was still a hint of tension in the air, and Rin was obviously worried.

 

“Good morning,” Sousuke replied normally, an a apologetic smile on his lips as he gave Rin a small nod. It was a silent apology but one they both understood and now they’d made up and things were back to normal.

 

“Give the kid a neck rub will you, I’ll make breakfast,” Sousuke left quickly, busying himself in the kitchen while Ai slumped down on the sofa miserably.

 

“What happened duckling?” Rin turned his concern onto Ai now.

 

“I slept without a pillow,” was Ai’s brief explanation as he rubbed his sore neck again.

 

“Well that was daft,” Rin chuckled, but said no more as he stood behind Ai behind the sofa, shooing the kid’s hands away he did as he was told, massaging the sore muscles.

 

“So…how did it go?”

 

“Hmmm…I think his shoulder will be ok, but he shouldn’t strain himself.” Ai said with a sigh, the massage doing wonders to help already.

 

“Could do with some bandages though,” he added with a mutter, only half aware of the conversation now. Rin was really good at massages; his hands were large and strong applying just the right amount of pressure to undo the ache in his muscles. Rin’s hands moved slowly, gradually working their way down Ai’s neck and to his shoulders. 

 

“Thanks for taking care of him, and we have some bandages. I bought some just in case.” Rin replied. Ai’s only response was another hum, his eyes closed completely zoned out. Rin grinned, the temptation was too great.

 

He leaned forward, pressing a quick kiss to the top of Ai’s head.

 

“Huh?” The boy was paying attention now his face had gone bright red too which only made Rin laugh.

 

“Sorry, you were such an easy target,” the red head grinned, Ai looked away in embarrassment. He grumbled something under his breath but didn’t move away so Rin continued to massage Ai’s shoulders. 

 

\- -

 

Rin stared at the spread before him in disbelief. Sousuke had gone a little overboard with breakfast and had cooked all of Rin’s favourites. The table groaned under the weight of all the food and Rin didn’t know where to start. 

 

He looked at Sousuke warily then turned his attention to Ai.

 

“What did you do to him?” he asked panicked, his ‘whisper’ not at all subtle.

 

“I didn’t do anything,” Ai laughed, glancing nervously at Sousuke who was now glaring at Rin.

 

“If you don’t want it don’t eat it. Go to bed,” he snapped.

 

“No no I want it!!” Rin yelled quickly, grabbing the plate nearest to him he helped himself to a large helping. Sousuke watched Rin, his expression softening as the other dug into the food gladly. This was his full apology, an expression that he knew he’d been a bit of a jerk and was sorry.

 

Sensibly Rin didn’t bring up the matter of Sousuke’s shoulder, instead he simply commented on how much he loved the food, thanking the dark haired male after almost every bite.

 

“Rin, stop talking with your mouth full,” Sousuke finally had to chastise Rin, his laughter warm and kind.

 

Ai watched them both fondly, eating his own share of breakfast in silence. Rin and Sousuke were nothing like he’d imagined, and nothing like the criminals he’d become used to dealing with. They really were good people and he was starting to understand why all of their ‘victims’ would say they didn’t remember what the kidnappers had looked like, or what they’d sounded like.

 

\- -

 

“Rin bought some bandages with him,” Ai announced, waving the bandages in front of Sousuke in an almost threatening manner.

 

“Oh…great…” Sousuke looked at the bandages dubiously. Honestly his shoulder didn’t hurt much at all, he would probably be fine without bandages. But Ai was glaring at him again.

 

“Okay,” he sighed, obediently sitting down on the sofa so Ai could tend to him. Ai wrapped up the shoulder expertly making sure the injury was properly wrapped and supported before he allowed Sousuke to put his shirt back on.

 

“Let me make dinner tonight, you should rest as much as you can,” the smaller male added seriously, his tone leaving no room for argument. Sousuke gave a silent nod of agreement.

 

\- -

 

Ai had provided them with a wonderful meal as usual so it was down to Rin and Sousuke to do the washing up. Rin would have done them all himself but Sousuke hated the thought of doing nothing so he insisted on helping. Besides it would give them a private moment to talk, something they hadn’t had the opportunity to do for few days.

 

Ai had been left in the living room, both of them trusting him enough to not try and escape and even if he did try something they were close enough to hear and stop him. 

 

“Hey Sou, don’t you think Haru seems kinda…odd?” Rin asked quietly, not quite sure how to word his concern.

 

“I mean he doesn’t really seem like a kid…” he mumbled thoughtfully as he rinsed one of the dishes absently before handing it to Sousuke to dry. 

 

“He hasn’t tried to escape or threatened us with his bodyguards or anything,” Rin continued. Apart from the time he’d chased Sousuke from the bathroom the kid hadn’t acted at all like the spoiled, pampered brats they were used to dealing with. 

 

Both of them had been surprised at how quickly the boy had relaxed around them, his fear and anxiety on the first night had been very real but after that he’d seemed oddly calm. He’d adapted quickly and calmly to the situation and somehow he gelled well with them. Sousuke had to admit it was odd but he tried not to think about it too much, it would only make him paranoid. 

 

“Hmm,” he mused, though gave no other reply.

 

“I mean he seems really mature and level headed don’t you think? Plus he can cook too.”

 

“If we’re going to gauge people’s ages on their ability to cook you’d still be a middle schooler,” Sousuke replied dryly, earning a sharp kick in the shin. 

 

“Well he did study overseas. I guess that’s why,” Sousuke added with a shrugged, resisting the urge to hop off his now sore shin.

 

‘Harunori’ was very unusual. There was just something about him that Sousuke couldn’t quite put his finger on, from their talk about ducks and sharks to the fact he’d actually allowed the boy to treat his shoulder ‘Harunori’ was truly getting under his skin. Rin had obviously taken a shine to him too. Alarm bell should be ringing in his head, but…

 

“He’s an odd kid,” he agreed with Rin. They finished the washing up without saying another word.

 

\- -

 

“So really now, what did you do?” Rin whispered conspiringly as the lay in bed side by side, facing each other with the covers pulled right up to their chins. It felt as if they were a couple of kids at a sleep over about to whisper their most guarded secrets into the night.

 

“I didn’t do anything,” Ai laughed.

 

“But he never lets me help with his shoulder,” the read head replied sulkily, sinking further into the blankets.

 

“Hmm, sometimes it’s easier to accept help from a stranger. Sousuke seems like a very proud person, he probably doesn’t like having people he cares about worry about him, right?” Ai suggested, making Rin blush. He knew Sousuke cared about him, of course he did, but having someone point it out was pretty embarrassing.

 

“I guess,” he mumbled.

 

“Sousuke loves you a lot, don’t worry,” Ai teased, he could tell the conversation was getting Rin a little flustered and it was time for some payback for the surprise kiss earlier.

 

“Oh shut up,” Rin retorted, going steadily redder he grabbed the edge of the blanket and tugged it over Ai’s head so the boy wouldn’t be able to see how red he was. Ai’s laughter was muffled but still very obvious.

 

“Good night duckling,” Rin said firmly.

 

“Night Rin,” Ai giggle, his head peeking out over the edge of the blankets, his usually straight, neat hair now fluffed up and messy. Rin smiled; closing his eyes he shuffled a little closer not bothering to turn his back on Ai tonight. It felt nice to sleep like this.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Rin cooked breakfast, insisting it was time he gave Sousuke and ‘duckling’ a break and do his fair share of the cooking. Sousuke was not so sure this was a good idea, a sore shoulder was preferable to a major fire, but under the dark haired man’s watchful gaze Rin had managed to get by without burning anything so far. 

 

“I sent the ransom note off last night,” Sousuke announced quietly when the food was almost done. 

 

“You what!” The red head hissed, almost knocking the pot off the stove as he whipped around, facing Sousuke with an expression of surprise and betrayal, “but it’s only been a couple of days!” 

 

It was too soon, and Sousuke hadn’t even discussed it with him! It wasn’t fair!

 

“Shhh I know, I’m sorry,” Sousuke said soothingly, trying to placate Rin. Rin was angry; he could see the anger bubbling up in him threatening to explode. 

 

“He has to go home, he doesn’t deserve being trapped here with us,” he continued, stepping closer to Rin he wrapped his good arm around the others waist pulling him close. Rin was tense, resisting but he didn’t push him away. 

 

“I know but…I wanted to keep him for a little longer…” his anger was slowly fading, replaced by melancholy. Sousuke knew Rin would take this badly, he knew Rin was getting too attached. It was better to get this over with quickly. 

 

“He’s not a pet Rin,” Sousuke chided as he pressed his forehead against Rin’s giving him a look. 

 

“I know…” 

 

Taking the opportunity that being alone gave them Sousuke kissed Rin. It was a soft, slow kiss, a kiss to apologise, to make him feel better. Rin was sulking against his lips, only barely responding though he did lean in taking comfort in the warmth Sousuke offered. 

 

It had been days since he’d been able to hold the red head like this. Keeping their eyes on their ‘captive’ didn’t exactly give them much alone time. 

 

“You have me anyway, what are you getting all sulky for?” Sousuke muttered possessively against the others lips, his grip getting a little tighter. 

 

“Hmm, I guess that will do,” Rin grumbled. 

 

“Jerk,” Sousuke growled, biting the others lip in retaliation. Rin gave a small moan against his lips, but didn’t seem willing to play any further. 

 

“Let me go, the foods burning,” the read head quickly changed the subject, smacking Sousuke lightly in his good arm as he tried to pull out of the others grip. 

 

Sousuke was right, they had each other and ‘Haru’ was a good kid. They couldn’t drag him down to their level. Beside he was still only sixteen, he had his whole future ahead of him. 

 

\- 

 

“So what do you want to do today?” Rin seemed to be bubblier than usual, his sudden enthusiasm taking Ai back a little. 

 

“I don’t mind, anything,” he replied amiably. There wasn’t really much to do apart from playing board games or watching TV and he really wasn’t fussed which one they did. Truthfully while he rather enjoyed spending time with the other two men he was getting a little bored of doing the same thing day after day. 

 

“Yeah, there really isn’t much to do is there,” picking up on the others boredom or possibly feeling equally as restless himself Rin sighed, sinking into the couch. 

 

“Well we could…go outside?” Ai suggested cautiously. He felt as if he hadn’t seen proper daylight for ages. Sure plenty of light came through the windows during the day, but when all the doors and windows were tightly shut it just wasn’t the same. 

 

“I don’t mean we should go far or anything, just standing outside the front door for a few minutes would be nice,” he added quickly. 

 

“Fresh air would be good,” he agreed, glancing at Ai thoughtfully from the corner of his eye. He shouldn’t really be letting the boy outside, ‘what if he made a break for it?’ Sousuke would have probably said. But Rin was sure that wasn’t Ai’s intention. He trusted the boy and he hadn’t made any attempts to escape so far, just a few minutes wouldn’t hurt. 

 

“Ok, but only for five minutes. And don’t tell Sou or he’ll kill me,” Rin grinned, pressing his finger to his lips, “this will be our secret ok.” 

 

“Ok,” Ai agreed, pressing his finger to his own lips in reply. 

 

\- 

 

“It’s such a nice day!” Rin exclaimed as he opened the door, sunlight flooding the hallway. Ai had to close his eyes for a moment against the bright glare. 

 

There was a cool, gentle breeze and the sound of birds greeted them, slowly opening his eyes as he stepped out the door after Rin Ai took in his surroundings. There was greenery everywhere and not another house to be seen. The house appeared to be set back in the mountains with thick foliage surrounding it making it hard to spot. The air smelt clean and fresh and here was no sound of traffic to cut through the tranquillity. It was the perfect little hide out. 

 

It also gave Ai absolutely no idea where he was or how far away he’d been take from his original location. He didn’t feel the least bit concerned though. It didn’t really matter where they were they would go back eventually when it came to ‘returning’ him so he may as well enjoy it while he could. 

 

“It’s nice here,” he commented with a smile, truly meaning it. The peace of the countryside was a stark contrast to the busy bustling city and stressful job he was used to. 

 

“Right, it’s really quite up here and the scenery is so beautiful,” Rin boasted, taking a deep breath of fresh air. 

 

“Wanna go for a walk?” 

 

“What, really? Are you sure that’s ok?”

 

“I don’t see why not. But under one condition,” Rin held out his hand, “this way I can be sure you don’t run off.” 

 

Ai grinned, taking the offered hand without any hesitation. 

 

“Deal!”

 

Rin grinned, lacing his fingers with Ai so that he had a good, firm grip on the others hand. Purely for safety of course, this was the boy wouldn’t be able to suddenly yank his hand free. 

 

They did a few laps of the house, walking hand in hand all the while. The lone house had a rather big garden which surrounded the whole building, it had obviously at one time been very neat and well cared for but now it was overgrown and neglected. Even so a variety of flowers still thrived. 

 

“Ah there are some hime-shajin here!” Ai exclaimed, pulling Rin over to some purple bell flowers that were peeking through the grass. 

 

“And there’s some ko-oni yuri and sasayuri,” Ai pointed out the flowers as they walked talking animated and excitedly about the plants. Rin knew absolutely nothing about flowers, but it was fun to listen to the boy talk about them. 

 

“Hmm, oh hey you know flowers have meaning right, like roses mean I love you. Do you know the meanings of any of these flowers?” Rin asked excitedly. 

 

“Not really,” Ai admitted apologetically, “but flower language really is interesting. Who decided what they mean anyway? Why did someone look at a flower and decide it meant ‘I love you’? They could have just as easily decided it meant ‘I’m hungry’ or something. Maybe we could just make up our own meanings,” Ai mused. 

 

“Oh? Like I could decide that that flower means ‘Sousuke’s a big jerk’ and that one means ‘but he’s a really good guy behind it all’?” Rin joked, and Ai had to quickly press his free hand over his mouth he was laughing so hard. 

 

“It’s a shame it’s so over grown though, this garden must have been really beautiful,” he said softly once he’d gotten his giggles under control. Rin shifted guiltily. They really didn’t bother to take care of this place; it was only ever used when they needed a place to hide so as long as there were no holes in the roof they didn’t care. 

 

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tidy it up a bit,” Rin muttered to himself, but Ai heard him. 

 

“Please do, it would make the flowers happy,” he laughed.

 

\- 

 

“You’ll be going home soon,” Sousuke dropped the announcement on Ai at dinner that night without any warning. 

 

“Huh?” 

 

“The ransom note’s been sent so we’ve given your parents a couple of days to collect the money then we’ll send you home,” Sousuke’s tone was detached and business like as if he didn’t really care at all. 

 

“But…it’s too soon,” the chopsticks had frozen halfway to his mouth and now they hung there forgotten. Ai knew that they usually waited a week or more before sending the note, why had they hurried things along? His earlier panic at being discovered returned.

 

“Too soon?” Sousuke raised an eyebrow, shooting Ai a questioning look. 

 

“Well…it’s only been a couple of days. I guess I thought you’d keep me here longer.” 

 

“We’re not that mean, you want to go home right?” Rin laughed. No, they were still acting normal which meant they probably hadn’t found out. So why? 

 

“Of course! I can’t wait to go home!” Ai replied a little too enthusiastically his nerves making him over act. 

 

“But there’s still a few things to sort out, so you’ll be stuck here for a couple of days.” 

 

“Well it would be rude to leave so suddenly, especially when you’ve been so hospitable,” Ai laughed, trying to ease his anxiety with a joke. 

 

“Right, and we need to throw you a farewell party too!” Rin retorted, wincing a moment later as Sousuke kicked him under the table. 

 

“Food’s getting cold,” he said sternly to both of them. The discussion was over. 

\- 

 

“So, how exactly does this whole thing work?” Ai asked curiously as he sat in bed next to Sousuke. After Sousuke’s announcement a rather subdued atmosphere hung about the place, particularly around Rin, and Ai had found it hard to bring up the subject around the both of them but maybe now it was just him and Sousuke it would be easier. 

 

“Hmm?” 

 

“I mean you getting the money and then sending me home.” 

 

“We’ve given your parents a couple of days to get the money together, we’ll contact them again to make sure they have the money and arrange a meeting place. Then we swap.” Ai knew this already of course, their exchanges always worked the same way. So they hadn’t changed anything this time. 

 

“But what if they call the police? What if you get caught?” 

 

“We told your parents not to call anyone, people are usually pretty compliant when the safety of their kids is involved.” 

 

“But aren’t you worried?” Ai prodded, not entirely sure why he was pushing the issue so much. 

 

“We’ll check the area for anything suspicious, split up if we have to.” Sousuke gave a small shrug as if he wasn’t really concerned either way. They’d managed to get away with it so far, why would this time be any different? He wasn’t worried. 

 

That made sense, but this plan had been in the works for months. There would be no escape for Sousuke or Rin and Ai felt awful about it. 

 

“Ok, you can take the ice off now,” he said, glancing at the clock on the bedside table. Ai had been making sure Sousuke iced his shoulder at least once a day, something that was much easier when they shared the bed. 

 

“It looks a little better now, how does it feel?” he asked as he inspected the injury. 

 

“Fine.”

 

“You should still probably sleep sitting up again tonight, better to keep it elevated.”

 

“Fine, but take a pillow this time,” Sousuke replied, pulling one of the pillows from behind him. 

 

“Okay, thank you,” Ai smiled, taking the pillow he fluffed it up and settled down to sleep. 

 

It wasn’t just Rin who was getting attached. Sousuke had sent the note off early for his own sake as much as Rin’s. Despite everything that had happened to them all Sousuke had needed was Rin, as long as he had Rin by his side he didn’t need anyone else. So why did the kid feel like the missing piece he’d always been searching for?

 

It scared him how easily he could picture the boy with them as a normal part of their lives. He could easily see the image of Rin curled up behind ‘Haru’, his arms warped around the boy’s waist as Sousuke lay next to them. It was such a vivid image he quickly had to shake away, if he thought about it too much it may well lead to dreams he really didn’t want to be having with the boy in the bed next to him.

 

He watched the boy as he fell asleep, watched as his breathing slowly evened out and his body relaxed into the land of dreams. He seemed to be sleeping so peacefully, so comfortably Sousuke wondered what he might be dreaming about. When he was sure the boy was fast asleep Sousuke cautiously reached out his hand, allowing himself just this once to touch him. Just once wouldn’t hurt. He stroked the boy’s hair gently, his fingers toying with the soft strands before gliding across his cheek and the little beauty mark under his eye. 

 

Ai mumbled in his sleep, shifting a little and Sousuke quickly snatch his hand away in case he woke. But Ai settled down a moment later a small smile on his lips. The dark haired man let out a sigh of relief and kept his arms firmly at his sides. 

 

Just who was this kid? How could he sleep so soundly next to the person who was kidnapped him? How did he fit in with them so easily? Thoughts of the boy filled Sousuke’s head, he couldn’t get away. The sooner he was gone the better. 

 

\- 

Sousuke did not sleep well that night and woke the next morning with heavy, dark bags under his eyes. 

 

“Couldn’t you get to sleep? Was your shoulder sore?” Ai fussed, and even Rin was looking at him pityingly. 

 

“I’m fine, just a little tired that’s all,” he grumbled, their concern only making him more irritable. 

 

“You can go sleep a little longer if you want, I’m ok,” Rin offered even as he stifled a yawn. He’d been up all night on the night watch and needed to sleep. 

 

“I said I’m fine, go to bed Rin,” he replied stubbornly. 

The red head scowled, debating the wisdom of arguing with Sousuke. Was it really worth it? 

 

“Fine, but come wake me in a couple of hours if you want a nap ok,” he said equally as stubbornly before skulking off to the bedroom. 

 

“So…how about we just watch some movies today?” Ai suggested, choosing the more relaxed option. Playing board games would likely be too tiring while sitting down and movies didn’t involve much energy at all, clearly it was the better option. 

 

Sousuke, not really caring what they did, gave a small nod and made himself comfortable on the sofa leaving Ai to set up and pick the movie. 

 

Several hours passed like that, with Sousuke managing to fight off his fatigue for the most part. It was a losing battle though; his head began to nod more frequently, his eyes staying closed for longer each time. 

 

Sousuke’s body slumped to the side, falling heavily against Ai almost knocking him over. Ai managed to catch himself just in time, carefully adjusting their positions so he was sat back comfortably with Sousuke’s head on his shoulder. The dark haired man was fast asleep now and he didn’t want to wake him. Sleep was the best tool for recovery after all and he must have been very tired to fall asleep like that. 

 

Ai watched him for a moment, an affectionate smile on his lips as he watched the other mans relaxed, sleeping face. Sousuke looked much more at ease now, something had obviously been bothering him lately. Ai hoped the rest would help him. 

 

He smiled, brushing his fingers through the short, messy hair Sousuke hadn’t bothered to brush that morning. Honestly he really needed to take better care of himself, both Sousuke and Rin were such a handful, they really needed someone to look after them. 

 

\- 

 

“Hmm, what’s wrong with Sousuke?” Rin asked as he strolled into the living room a while later.

 

“Shhh,” placing a finger against his lips Ai pointed at Sousuke, doing his best not to move too much. 

 

“He’s asleep?” Rin chuckled, the temptation to grab a pen and draw on the others face rising in him. He had a feeling Ai would probably stop him though. 

 

“That idiot, I told him to come wake me if he wanted a nap. So how long has he been asleep?” 

 

“Um, about an hour,” Ai whispered in reply, he hadn’t really been checking the time but the movie they’d been watching had finished. 

 

“I guess we can let him sleep a little longer then, unless you need to get up or something?” 

 

“I’m fine.” 

 

“Ok then, I’ll go start dinner.” 

 

“Is that…wise?” Ai asked uncertainly. 

 

“He I’m not that bad at cooking. I can at least manage something simple on my own.” 

 

“Ok then I’m trusting you Rin.” 

 

“Leave it to me,” Rin said proudly, giving Ai the thumbs off before heading to the kitchen. 

 

The smell of food and the sound of Rin shuffling about in the kitchen eventually roused Sousuke, who woke feeling rather confused about where he was for a moment and why he was currently using Ai as a pillow. 

 

“I feel asleep?” Ai gave a small nod, still keeping very still seeing as Sousuke hadn’t moved yet. 

 

“And you didn’t try to escape?” Sousuke asked, stifling a yawn he finally sat up. 

 

“Well…you said I’d be going home soon so I didn’t see the point,” Ai replied sheepishly. 

 

“Kid, you really are something else,” he muttered, chuckling to himself. Then he properly registered the smell of cooking. 

 

“Wait…if you’re here, then who’s cooking?” 

 

“Rin.” 

 

“Oh no.” Well the house wasn’t on fire and nothing smelled like it was burning so that was good start. Still Sousuke had a very bad feeling. He made his way to the kitchen slowly, filled with apprehension. Ai following behind apparently quite relaxed. 

 

“Oh hey sleeping beauty, you’re awake at last,” Rin grinned at Sousuke. Sousuke ignored the comment, too stunned Rin had managed to cook what appeared to be a decent meal, alone, without any incident. 

 

“Is that…yakisoba?” 

 

“Yup!” Rin said proudly. 

 

“And you didn’t burn it? Or add anything weird to it?” 

 

“Geez Sou have a little faith in me. I just followed the instructions on the packet, I can manage that much.” Rin laughed and even Ai was giggling behind him, Sousuke figured maybe he was over reacting a little bit. 

 

“The true test is in the eating though, hurry up and dish it out,” he ordered, sitting down at the little table. 

 

“Yes sir!” Rin turned sharply back to the stove and finished serving out the food into three separate bowls. 

 

“This is actually not too bad,” Sousuke muttered after the first bite, Ai giving a small hum of agreement. 

 

“You guys suck,” Rin sulked a little at the clear surprise in their tone, but he couldn’t suppress his grin for too long. He couldn’t remember the last time dinner had been so fun and relaxed. It felt like a family. 

 

\- 

 

The next few days passed in the same manner, and in Rin’s opinion they passed far too quickly. 

 

“So today’s the deadline?” he asked, glancing at Sousuke. 

 

“Yes. I’ll get in touch with them tonight then if they have the money we can probably arrange the exchange for tomorrow.” Even Sousuke was surprised at how quickly the days had gone by, and how down he felt about it. Rin sulked, his shoulder slumping miserably. 

 

“I’m going to miss the duckling.” 

 

“Hmm.” Sousuke gave a small non-committal hum but Rin knew he would miss the kid too. 

 

“Maybe they’ll ask for a few more days to collect the money?” Rin suggested hopefully. 

 

“Maybe,” but the families always had the money on time. They always paid on time. Why would now be any different? 

 

“Are you talking about me?” A light laugh reached their ears and Ai came into the room, fresh out of the bath a towel draped over his shoulder to catch the drips from his hair. They hadn’t bothered with guarding the bathroom door for a few days now, the boy had had so many chances to escape and hadn’t even tried. There was clearly no need for them to worry. 

 

“All good things though duckling!” Rin assured with a grin, instantly perking up tough his smile was now a little forced. 

 

“So tomorrow huh?” Ai had obviously overheard them, not that it mattered they would have told him soon anyway. 

 

“Yeah, tomorrow.” Sousuke nodded, Rin’s smile faltering for a second. 

 

“It’s been fun though, we’ll miss you!” Rin said brightly, trying to lighten the heavy mood. 

 

“Maybe we can be pen pals?” Ai joked, causing them all to laugh. That was obviously impossible. Still he idea was amusing. 

 

“So what do you plan to do with the money anyway?” Ai asked curiously. 

 

“Pay bills, taxes, buy food. Fun adult things,” Sousuke replied, dead pan. 

 

“If there’s some leftover we might be able to afford a holiday.” Rin added and they laughed again. 

 

“Well then, shall we enjoy our last night together by playing some more board games?” Rin suggested, causing Ai and Sousuke to cast furtive looks at each other. Rin had proven himself to be very bad at games and a sore loser, but even so…

 

“Sure, why not,” Sousuke shrugged and Ai agreed with a nod. Even so they all still had fun playing them. 

 

\- 

 

The game night ended much as the expected, with Rin losing badly and throwing the game onto the floor. Sousuke had disappeared for a short while at one point while Ai and Rin played a heated game of snap. He’d shot Rin a meaningful look when he returned, silently telling him that the plan was in motion and then they’d continued playing. 

 

The living room was now a mess, which they all slowly cleaned up together none of them in a hurry to finish and get to bed even though it was fairly late. 

 

“Well tomorrows the day. We need to get some rest,” Sousuke said finally as he put the last board game away. It was his turn to share the bed with Ai, Rin had night duty. Rin had begged Sousuke to switch with him but the dark haired man had refused, not trusting Rin not to do or say anything foolish if he was left alone with the boy. Sousuke wasn’t really sure if he could trust himself either but at least this way he could keep Rin out of trouble. 

 

“Good night,” Rin waved them off cheerfully, though he took a moment to pull a face at Sousuke. He was still clearly annoyed. 

 

“Good night Rin,” Ai smiled, his gentleness helping to sooth Rin’s ire. 

 

Sousuke said nothing to Ai as they made their way to the bedroom, remaining silent even as he climbed into bed and made himself comfortable. 

 

“Good night Sousuke,” Ai called softly as he huddled under the covers, his words sounding more like a sad farewell. 

 

“Good night,” Sousuke replied, equally as softly. He didn’t have the energy any more to act tough. 

 

A few minutes later the door creaked open. 

 

“Are you two asleep?” Rin whispered. 

 

“Not any more,” Sousuke grumbled. 

 

“Good,” Rin quickly let himself into the room, shutting the door behind him he shuffled over to the bed and perched on the edge of it. 

 

“Hey duckling budge over,” he whispered, giving Ai a nudge. 

 

“Hmm,” too tired to refuse Ai shuffled over, making room for Rin to lie next to him. 

 

“Rin, what are you doing?!” Sousuke hissed urgently, trying to ignore how close Ai was now pressed to him thanks to Rin taking up space in the bed that really wasn’t there. Sousuke had finally been allowed to lie down to sleep, his shoulder getting better, but he still needed to lie on his back which left little room for the other two. 

 

“Its fine we can just sleep on our side’s right duckling?” Rin whispered to Ai as the boy shifted, lying on his side to face Sousuke to make more room for Rin. 

 

“Hmm, sure,” he mumbled, pressing back against the red head as Rin curled his own body around Ai’s his arm wrapping around the other’s slender waist. 

 

“See, this is fine,” Rin mumbled into the back of Ai’s head, stubbornly closing his eyes. 

 

“Rin…” Sousuke was trying to keep his cool now, trying not to snap. 

 

“We all need our rest for tomorrow, we don’t need a night guard now,” Rin added pleadingly. 

 

Before he could total lose his cool Sousuke felt a small hand resting on his chest and turned to find Ai looking at him with half open eyes. 

 

“Its fine, I don’t mind. You both need to sleep,” he said, his voice soft and heavy with sleep. Sousuke sighed, feeling all of his anger melt with that touch. Rin’s hand appeared a moment later, resting over Ai’s against Sousuke’s chest. 

 

“Good night,” Rin whispered. Sousuke quietly accepted his defeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got all the Japanese names for the flowers from here http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~flower_world/ I'm not really sure if they would all grow at the same time in the same place but lets just pretend for the sake that that do


	4. Chapter 4

Ai woke first the next morning, pressed between Sousuke and Rin and in desperate need to go to the bathroom. Rin’s hand was still on Sousuke’s chest, his arm draped over Ai trapping him. Sousuke had turned over on his side slightly, leaning towards them and squishing Ai between them even more. 

 

Ai grumbled, wriggling around as best he could as he tried to set himself free. Rin, half asleep and sensing Ai was trying to escape, moved his hand from Sousuke’s chest and wrapped his arm around Ai’s waist holding him tight. 

 

“Rin, lemme go,” still sleepy Ai half-heartedly tried thumping Rin’s arm in an effort to make him let go. Mumbling something in his sleep Rin nuzzled the back of Ai’s neck and pulled him closer. He was not going to be able to escape so easily. 

 

“You awake?” Sousuke’s eyes were open, staring at Ai intently startling the other. He’d thought they were both still asleep. 

 

“Yes…I need to get up though,” he said, tugging on Rin’s arm again to no avail. 

 

“Just kick him, he’ll wake up,” Sousuke muttered with a bored yawn. He slowly got out of bed, stretching as he went. With Sousuke out of the bed Ai now had more room to move about, so he took Sousuke’s advice, swinging his leg back hitting Rin hard in the calf with his heel. 

 

“Huh? Oh good morning,” Rin woke, mumbling a sleepy greeting. 

 

“Rin, can you please let me go now?” 

 

“Oh, sorry duckling,” Rin said sheepishly, quickly letting go of Ai when he noticed how tightly he was holding the other. Ai didn’t bother to give a reply as he quickly hoped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. 

 

“I can’t believe you told him to kick me,” Rin grumbled, turning his attention to Sousuke now. 

 

“That’s what you get for pretending to be asleep.” 

 

“I was still half asleep,” Rin said defensively. He’d been awake enough though to know what was going on, to know that he didn’t want to let go of the boy just yet. 

 

“I’m going to make a start on breakfast,” Sousuke said as he stifled another yawn. Today was the day, they needed to kick it off with a good breakfast. 

 

\- 

 

Sousuke and Rin were waiting for him in the kitchen, the smell of breakfast cooking spreading a pleasant aroma through the whole house. It smelled like home, like a familiar ‘good morning’. 

 

“Smells good!” Ai said with forced cheerfulness as he plopped down into one of the free chairs. His smile so exaggerated that even Sousuke shot him a questioning glance. The boy had seemed relatively normal when he woke up, although he had dashed off to the bathroom pretty quickly. Maybe last night’s sleeping arrangement had made him uncomfortably or perhaps he was simply nervous about the ‘exchange’? 

 

“Everything ok? Are you nervous about today?” 

 

“Nervous? Why would I be nervous? I’m just going home right, I’m fine!” Ai tried to laugh, which only made the whole act seem even more suspicious. 

 

“Hey duckling relax,” Rin chipped in soothingly, pulling his chair closer to Ai, “nothings going to go wrong and you’ll be home before you know it!” He promised with a big grin. 

 

“Yeah…home…” Ai mumbled, staring down at the table clearly not at all happy about the prospect. 

 

Rin and Sousuke shot each other quick, concerned looks before Rin leaned in closer to the other boy. 

 

“Is there some reason you don’t want to go home?” He asked his tone serious and protective now, dangerous red eyes narrowed suspiciously. 

 

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that!” Ai’s head snapped up quickly as he waved his hands back and forth in front of him for emphasis. 

 

“Really, that’s not it,” he assured them with a smile, though the two men were still sharing rather dubious looks. 

 

“I guess….it just feels a little weird that’s all,” he added lamely. Hoping the other two would buy his excuse. Their expressions relaxed, accepting the excuse, though they still looked worried. 

 

Ai already knew how today was going to end. The plan was fool-proof, they’d spent weeks on it preparing for all eventualities all to catch these notorious criminals, and Ai was a part of it. Looking at their concerned expression Ai felt the knot of guilt that had been forming in his chest since last night grow, it was suffocating him. He didn’t want them to get caught. He didn’t want to see them locked up. He didn’t want to betray them. But he had to do his job. He had to…

 

Sousuke had obviously worked hard on their final breakfast together, preparing a variety of dishes he knew both Rin and Ai would like. But the sight of the carefully prepared food only made Ai’s stomach twist uncomfortably, he couldn’t eat. Not wanting to worry the other two any more though Ai made an attempt to pick at the food, carefully eating what he could. 

 

“Are you sure you’re ok. You’re not sick are you?” Sousuke interrupted, unable to watch Ai picking at his food so miserably any longer. 

 

“No, I’m not sick,” Ai sighed, giving up on his meal he pushed the plate away from him and fell silent. 

 

He was fighting an internal battle with himself now, a battle that had been bubbling inside him for days but only this morning had he finally paid attention to it. He could tell them, he could warn them and help them escape. That possibility had been screaming inside his head all morning. ‘Just let them go, help them escape’ it said, but then there was the responsible part of him, the part of him that told him what they were doing was wrong and he had to do his job. But even so they weren’t bad people, could he really betray them like that? 

 

“Hey kid…” Sousuke prodded carefully after Ai had been quiet for a little too long. Snapped out of his thoughts Ai looked up and was met with even deeper expressions of concern making his heart twist painfully. He couldn’t do it.

 

“Rin, Sousuke, can I talk to you? I need to tell you something, ah maybe in the living room?” he suggested, he wanted to be away from anything sharp or breakable for this. 

 

“Sure,” Sousuke replied carefully, glancing at Rin. The boy was acting very strange and it was unsettling both of them. Leaving their breakfast Rin and Sousuke followed Ai into the living room. Ai sat down stiffly in the arm chair, Sousuke and Rin settling on the sofa next to each other. The silence hung around them thick and heavy as the two men waited for Ai to tell them what was wrong. 

 

Now that he was here Ai didn’t know where to begin. Could he really just come straight out and tell them? Maybe he could just give them a hint or a warning instead to help them escape. If he did tell them the whole truth they were bound to be mad, they would probably hate him. Either way whether he told them the truth or gave them a hint he was never going to see them again and he felt another pang of pain twist in his chest, making him feel sick. 

 

‘If I tell them the whole truth they’ll hate me be at least I can let them get away. If I only give them a hint then they have the change of getting away but they still might get caught. If they do get away I’ll never see them again, if they get caught they’ll only find out the truth anyway.’ His gaze still firmly fixed on the floor Ai sighed softly to himself. All these options were horrible. 

 

‘Or I could tell them the truth…and run away with them?’

 

“Duckling?” Unable to bear it any more Rin’s voice broke the silence. Slowly lifting his head Ai smiled softly at the two, it was now or never. 

 

“There’s something I have to tell you. You might not believe me but what I am about to tell you is the truth,” he said carefully, his gaze fixed on the two men now. They were both looking at him with identical expressions of concern and confusion, both worried for him. Ai took some courage in that. It was a nice feeling, though it probably wouldn’t last when he told them the truth for now at least he could revel in the fact that they had cared. 

 

“My name is not Miyata Harunori, its Nitori Aiichirou. I’m not the son of the Miyata family, I’m a police officer working undercover to catch you.” He fixed them both with a firm, steady gaze, willing them to believe him. 

 

The expressions on concern melted away, leaving identical expressions of blank surprise. 

 

Rin recovered first with a loud laugh. 

 

“A policeman? Duckling do you really expect us to believe that? If you don’t want to go home you can just tell us,” He chuckled, rubbing tears of laughter away from his eyes. 

 

“I’m serious,” Ai replied sternly, his face flushing in irritation.

 

“Sousuke come on tell him, you’re not buying this are you,” Rin, still laughing smacked the dark haired man lightly in the shoulder, trying to get his attention. But Sousuke’s expression had hardened, his eyes narrowed suspiciously at Ai. 

 

“Sousuke…?” Rin’s laughter slowly trailed off as he glanced at Sousuke, then at Ai and back at Sousuke.

 

“Come on this isn’t funny!” 

 

“You’re a police office?” Sousuke’s tone was cold, anger bubbling beneath it. It sent a chill down Ai’s spine but he didn’t look away. He nodded. 

 

“Yes. We’ve been working on this case for a while now, I was selected to play the ‘victim’ because I look so young.” 

 

“Are you wearing a wire now? A tracking device?” Sousuke asked sharply, his cold blue eye’s scanning Ai’s body quickly as if he might suddenly spot something. 

 

Shaking his head, Ai looked down at his lap sheepishly. 

 

“No. There was this watch I was supposed to wear all the time with a tracking device in it, but umm…I forgot about it,” he admitted. He would get in trouble for that as soon as he got back to work, but even so Ai smiled. 

 

“I’m glad I forgot it though.” 

 

“Anything else?” Sousuke was still tense, still suspicious. 

 

“No. I’ve got nothing on me that will tell them anything. You can search me if you want,” Ai answered honestly, meeting Sousuke’s gaze again. He held his arms out, willing to let Sousuke do a full search if he wanted. The dark haired man seemed to consider it for a moment, but then turned away, blushing. 

 

“No it’s fine, I believe you,” he mumbled, visibly relaxing now that he didn’t have to worry about the cops suddenly breaking down the door, though he was still clearly unhappy about the whole thing. Rin, who until now had been watching them in stunned silence, final found his voice. 

 

“Wait if you are a police officer…then that means you’re not really sixteen right?” he asked suddenly. The question caught Ai off guard; it didn’t exactly strike him as the most important matter at the moment. He shook his head though. 

 

“No, I’m twenty-three.” 

 

“Really? Twenty-three?! That’s even more unbelievable than you being a cop,” Rin laughed, and Ai scowled his pout only emphasising his youthful features. 

 

“I’m telling the truth!” 

 

“Still….that’s a relief,” Rin chuckled, a small sigh leaving his lips. 

 

“Rin, is that really the thing you’re most concerned about right now?” Sousuke growled, glaring at the red head. 

 

“Don’t pretend you’re not relived too Sousuke,” Rin returned stubbornly, causing the other to blush again. Ai looked at them both questioningly but neither seemed willing to come forward with an explanation. 

 

“So anyway, this whole handover is a trap for us right? Why did you tell us?” Rin took over now and it was Ai’s turn to blush and look away. 

 

“I don’t want you to get caught,” he answered honestly, “I’ve dealt with so many terrible criminals, seen the truly horrible things some people are capable off but you….you two are different,” he lifted his head, his face still red. The honesty in his eyes struck Sousuke and Rin. 

 

“Sure what you’re doing isn’t exactly right but….you didn’t hurt me or do anything bad to me. You didn’t even keep me tied up or anything. You let me walk around the house freely and fed me properly and you were kind. You treated me more like a guest than a prisoner, honestly you’re both utterly terrible at being criminals,” he laughed. 

 

“And now I think I understand why we never got any good leads from your victims. They always say they couldn’t remember what happened; or that they’d never seen your faces or heard your voices. Some even said you were a group of people, that they never saw the same person twice. Their testimonies were all over the place and never matched up…but now I see. They were all trying to protect you, just like I am now,” he laughed again, shaking his head. 

 

“So you’re not going to turn us in?” Sousuke asked. Although there was still an edge to his tone he wasn’t glaring at Ai quite so harshly any more. 

 

“Nope, well not unless you want to go to jail.” He joked, feeling able to laugh about it now. Rin had taken the whole thing in his stride, and Sousuke wasn’t nearly as angry as Ai had feared he would be. It was more than Ai could have wished for.

 

“But won’t you get into trouble?” Rin frowned now, his concern for Ai returning. 

 

“Oh…probably. But if I help you to escape, we can just make it look like a coincident. You were just too good to be caught,” he grinned. ‘Or I could run away with you’ he wanted to add, but he couldn’t say that. 

 

“Does that mean you’ll help us get the money too?” Sousuke asked a little sceptically, wondering if Ai would really go that far for them. After all they still needed the money, now more than ever, if they were going to be running away from the cops they couldn’t do without it. 

 

“But if it’s just a trap will there even be any money?” Rin mused uncertainly. 

 

“There will,” Ai replied, surprising both of them. He was quiet for a moment, thinking. “And I can help you get that too.” 

 

“But won’t that be like…stealing form the police?!” Rin asked apprehensively. 

 

“Well, not exactly. We’re currently being funded for this job by the family of one of your previous victims. They really want to catch you so they’ve poured a lot of money into this, they’ll be giving us the money for the ransom too. Of course it’s just meant for show so we have something to show you at the handover but…I don’t see why you can’t have a share of it.”

 

“There’s someone who wants to catch us that bad? I thought you said our previous victims were all trying to protect us?” Rin added dubiously. 

 

“Hmm….now that is a good point,” Ai murmured, cupping his chin thoughtfully, “they didn’t really explain why they wanted to catch you so badly, just that there would be a lot of money in it if we did and everyone was really eager to go for it seeing how difficult you were to catch, no one ever asked…..” 

 

“Hey Ai,” Sousuke asked, a hint of suspicion entering his voice now. “What’s the name of this family?” 

 

“The Yamada family.” At the name both Sousuke and Rin suddenly looked as if he had stepped in something very unpleasant. 

 

“I should have known,” Sousuke sighed, running his fingers through his short hair in exasperation. 

 

“Huh?” Ai looked questioningly between the two of them but both seemed reluctant to give any further information and were currently avoiding looking at him. Rin was the first one to break under his questioning gaze. 

 

“Yamada Kimiko, she was the one we kidnapped before you. I think that was almost a year ago now,” the red head looked extremely uncomfortable, obviously remembering something he would rather forget, but he ploughed on, “right from the start she was a little odd. She seemed to think we’d kidnapped her to be out personal sex slave, she was really into the idea too even though we told her we had no intention to do that stuff or hurt her. I think she was kinda insulted when we turned her down too but she kept trying to seduce us, it was so embarrassing,” Rin groaned, going bright red he covered his face with his hands unable to go on so Sousuke picked up where he’d left off. 

 

“She was obviously very...uh, taken with us. Even when we told her Rin and I were an item, we were trying to let her down gently you know, but that just seemed to fuel her fantasy.” 

 

“She wanted to watch us,” Rin groaned, his voice muffled by his hands. Sousuke had gone an interesting shade of red now too, but he managed to hold off his embarrassment enough to continue.

 

“It went on like that until we tried to send her home and then she refused to leave, she wanted to run away with us saying we could all start a family together. We actually had to give her a sleeping pill and literally hand her back to her parents.” 

 

“So, you think the reason the Yamada family are paying us so much…is so we can catch you for this Kimiko girl?” Ai asked, earning a simultaneous nod from both Rin and Sousuke. Ai frowned, shifting a little uncomfortably. After that explanation he couldn’t help but think he probably wasn’t much better than Kimiko, helping Rin and Sousuke because he had fallen for them. 

 

“Well it’s a possibility. She was definitely the ‘spoiled little princess who always got what they wanted’ type it wouldn’t surprise me. Either that or her family are angry we ‘stole her heart’ or something and want revenge.” Sousuke said darkly, a grim smile on his lips. 

 

“So they were just using the police for a reason like that,” Ai scowled, pushing back his own guilty thoughts. 

 

“I won’t let them get away with using us like that! I’ll make sure you get your share of the money and never have to see that girl again!” he added stubbornly. He wouldn’t let them get away with it. 

 

“But duckling what about you?” Rin asked again now that he’d recovered a little. His face cheeks were still a cheerful shade of red but he seemed to have gotten over the worst of his embarrassment now at least. 

 

“I’ll figure something out,” he laughed dismissively, biting down the urge to beg them to take him with them. If he did that he would be no better than Kimiko. Beside they probably wouldn’t want him around anyway, how could he be so arrogant to think they would? 

 

“But you’ll get into a lot of trouble if they figure it out right? Why don’t you just come with us?” Rin suggested and Ai’s heart leapt. Rin had suggested it so easily, so natural as if it were the most obvious thing to do. 

 

“I….” Ai was lost for words. 

 

“We can’t take him with us. He’ll be a liability, the cops will be looking for him,” Sousuke’s stern voice bought him back down to earth with a crash. 

 

“Sousuke don’t say that!” Rin turned onto the dark haired man angrily but Sousuke would not back down. 

 

“You know he can’t come with us,” Sousuke was firm, shooting Rin a meaningful look. 

 

“But…” Rin growled, unable to come up with an argument he gritted his teeth and scowled. 

 

Sousuke was right of course, Ai and Rin both knew this. With Ai around they would be far too easy to find, far too easy to tack down. Still, it hurt. 

 

“Anyway we should come up with a plan,” Ai interrupted, quickly changing the subject. “I can give you all the information I have on the operation so together we can come up with something.” 

 

“Ok, but let’s discuss the rest over breakfast, the food is getting cold,” without waiting for their reply Sousuke got to his feet and went back to the kitchen. Shooting Ai an apologetic look Rin quickly followed, leaving Ai to trail behind them wearing a force smile that hid his disappointment. 

 

\- 

 

Even though they knew the police’s plan it didn’t guarantee they would be able to get away. They still had to be careful. 

 

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Rin asked nervously as they prepared to leave. 

 

“It will work!” Ai chirped with more confidence than he really felt. It was going to be a nerve wracking few hours, but hopefully by the end of Rin and Sousuke would be safely far away from the grasp of the police. 

 

“Relax, you aren’t coming to the drop off point. All you have to do is wait,” Sousuke grumbled at the red head, his own nervousness making him irritable and unsympathetic. 

 

“Well if all I have to do is wait why don’t we trade? You can sit around waiting nervously not knowing what’s going on,” Rin snarled in reply. 

 

“Guys…” Ai tried to calm the two men down, but they were all on edge, there was nothing he could say. Ai left in the car to the drop off point with Sousuke, Rin was left to make his way alone to the place they would pick him up later. 

 

\- 

 

“Hey Ai,” Sousuke broke the tense silence in the car. Sousuke had switched to calling him by his real name so easily, calling him Ai while they’d been making their plans. Since leaving the house though neither of them had said a word, but hearing his name being spoken like that made Ai smile and helped dispel some of his nervousness. 

 

“Hmm?”

 

“If anything goes wrong….at least make sure Rin gets away ok.” He said softly, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. 

 

“Nothing will go wrong,” Ai assured, shooting the dark haired male a confident smile. He gently rested a hand on the others shoulder though, giving a brief squeeze. 

\- 

 

They soon arrived at the spot, Sousuke slamming on the brakes harder than need be in his nervousness throwing them both forward. 

 

“Sorry,” he grumbled, quickly checking to see if Ai was ok before looking into the rear view mirror he adjusted the fabric of the balaclava he was wearing. He’d slipped in on before they arrived and now he longed to take it off. He knew he had to wear it though, there would be policemen all around and even ‘Mrs. Miyata’ would be an undercover cop. They couldn’t risk anyone seeing his face. 

 

Ai was sat in the back seat, his hand cuffed together in front of him. Once Sousuke was done adjusting the balaclava he jumped out of the car and hurried to open the rear door, yanking Ai out of the car. It was important that they act the part and not cause suspicion, so Sousuke needed to act like a criminal and right now, that meant not being too nice. 

 

“Sorry,” he muttered under his breath as Ai stumbled. Ai gave a small shake of his head in reply but didn’t dare smile or say anything else, knowing people were watching. 

 

The location was the typical sort of place a criminal might pick, an abandoned warehouse far away from prying eyes. It also gave the police officers plenty of places to hide and lie in wait. Ai could feel his nerves growing, causing him to tremble. 

 

They walked slowly into the old building, ‘Mrs. Miyata’ stood alone in the stream of light coming through one of the broken windows, a wide brimmed hat pulled firmly over her face and a large duffel bag at her feet. 

“Mum!” Ai shouted, startling the woman who was obviously as tense and nervous as he was. 

 

“A…Harunori, my dear are you ok!” her voice was stiff and wooden, her acting was terrible. 

 

“Mum I’m so glad to see you. I’ll be home soon ok…its ok, I’m ok,” Ai tried to reassure the woman, keeping up the act. Seeing that Ai was indeed ok she relaxed a little, a smile of relief ghosting over her lips. She had obviously been worried for him and Ai felt another stab of guilt. He liked his colleagues, even the ones who tended to tease him, that had always been so nice to him. But he had made his choice, and he’d chosen Rin and Sousuke. 

 

“Ok ok this reunion is all very touching,” Sousuke sneered, his voice deeper and sharper than usual. 

 

“You got the money right,” he snapped, his hand still gripping Ai’s arm firmly clearly not about to let him go. 

 

“It’s all here,” the woman stuttered, picking the bag up she took a few steps closer to Sousuke then stopped, hesitating. 

 

“Put it down there then take ten steps back,” he ordered. Doing as she was told the woman hurriedly stood back, squeezing her hands together now her gaze fixed on Ai. Sousuke moved towards the bag, dragging Ai with him. 

 

“Ok, take all the money out and put it in there, and don’t even think about making a break for it,” he ordered Ai, shoving the duffel bag they’d prepared earlier into Ai’s bound hands. Doing as he was told, Sousuke hovering over him threateningly, Ai quickly shot a look at the women who now looked even more anxious. They had not expected the kidnappers to switch bags, it wasn’t something they’d done before. 

 

Ai shot her a reassuring look, hoping she would trust him. ‘This is not part of the plan but its ok, don’t worry’ he tried to convey to her, hoping that the people in hiding wouldn’t jump out either. But there was still the other kidnapper to consider. One of the few things they knew about the kidnappers was that there were only two of them, without seeing the other one they were unlikely to move into action unless something serious happened. 

 

Catching Ai’s look she gave a small, barely discernible nod and Ai quickly finished transferring the money into the other bag. 

 

“Right, carry that for me,” Sousuke ordered, grabbing Ai by the arm again he dragged him to his feet. With his free hand Sousuke pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and held it up for the woman to see. 

 

“I’ll be taking the kid with me again, I’m afraid you broke our agreement didn’t you,” he said dangerously, causing her to tense again. 

 

“N…no I didn’t I swear!” she stuttered, her eyes darting around even more panicked. 

 

“Shut up!” Sousuke yelled, his anger snapping her attention back to him. “Listen. You’ll still get him back, I’m not an unreasonable man, but this place isn’t safe don’t think I didn’t see those guys earlier,” he said threateningly. It was a bluff of sorts, even Ai wasn’t sure how many people lay around in hiding and where, he could only hope that they would all stay hidden. If they judged the danger of Ai being taken again was too great they would pounce, catching Sousuke without worrying about the other criminal for now. But the deal had been for both of them. If there was a chance they could catch them both then they should take it. He hoped…

 

“Go to the address written here in two hours’ time,” if you come alone then you’ll get the kid back no trouble. Sousuke explained, carefully setting the piece of paper down on the floor inside the now empty bag the money had originally been in.

 

“I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen if I think we’re being followed, right,” he threatened, turning to leave dragging Ai after him.

 

They left confident and unhurried though Ai could feel the twinge of nervousness that shot through Sousuke. There was still so much that could go wrong but they were close, so close. 

 

Ai was shoved back in the car and Sousuke leapt into the driver’s seat and shot off at full speed. 

 

“Don’t drive too fast, keep to the speed limit,” Ai warned, they needed to get away but they also needed to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Sousuke gave a sharp nod, his attention on the road now. 

 

Pulling off the balaclava he sighed, glad to have it off, it was quickly replaced by a baseball cap, the brim pulled down as low over his eyes as he dared while driving. 

 

They’re following us but they’re keeping their distance,” Ai noted, casting a quick glance behind them. The police would be following them carefully now, hoping to catch them picking up the other kidnapper on the way to the next pick up point. 

 

“Ok keep going, make sure you look like you’re heading towards that place,” Ai said, earning another sharp nod from Sousuke. He knew the plan, but repeating it helped put them both at ease. 

 

\- 

 

They had been driving for what felt like hours when Ai was final able to look behind them and not see anyone following.  
“I think we lost them,” he said hopefully though his tone was hesitant. Sousuke didn’t slow down and continued to push the speed limit. He wanted to make sure it was perfectly safe before they went to get Rin. 

 

“It should be safe to pick up Rin now,” Ai sighed after a few more minutes had passed while frequently craning his neck to look out the rear window. He hadn’t seen the unmarked car that had been trailing them for a while now. They had been careful to plan out a route that was near the next meeting place so that it wouldn’t look like they were running away. As long as they didn’t give them reason to be suspicious the police were more likely to focus their attention on the second location, preparing for an ambush where they could catch both kidnappers. With the sudden change of plan they would need time to prepare, time they didn’t have to waste pointlessly tailing just one of the kidnappers, or so Ai hoped. 

 

Sousuke glanced into the rear view mirror, his eyes meeting Ai’s questioningly. Ai smiled reassuringly and nodded. It really was safe now. 

 

They drove to collect Rin in another equally deserted location, though Sousuke didn’t bother to stop the car only slowing down enough so Rin could jump into the car as Ai threw the door open. 

 

“Are you guys ok? Did it all go ok? Were you followed? Are you hurt?!” slamming the door behind him as he rattle off those questions in one breath Rin gave the silver haired man a quick once over, turning his gaze to Sousuke once he was sure Ai was ok. His worry for both of them was clear, he looked exhausted and had probably been pacing the whole time he was waiting for them. 

 

“Were fine, it all went well,” Ai soothed, patting Rin’s leg reassuringly. 

 

“Thank god,” Rin sighed heavily, letting all the out all the pent up anxiety that had built while he waited for them. His body sank into the seat, sliding so low he almost slid to the floor. 

 

“Oh you still have the hand cuffs on?” the glint of silver caught Rin’s eye and he turned his attention to Ai again, “Here, let me get that for you,” grabbing the spare key from his own pocket Rin quickly freed Ai, tossing the cuffs to the floor.

 

“Thanks, there wasn’t really any time to deal with them until now,” Ai laughed sheepishly, rubbing his sore wrists. The cuffs hadn’t been tight but they hadn’t exactly been comfortable either. 

 

Silence reigned again as the three men allowed the reality of what had happened sink in. They’d done it. They’d gotten away with it. The plan had gone smoothly and now they were home free. Now all that was left was to say goodbye, drop Ai off somewhere safe and go their separate ways. 

 

Ai could feel the impending ‘goodbye’ hanging over his head like a guillotine. He didn’t want to go, he didn’t want to say goodbye. 

 

“So you got the money then,” Rin asked rather pointlessly, making small talk just to break the silence. 

 

“Yeah.” 

 

“So it’s almost over then huh?” he mused glumly. They’d all been trying to avoid the subject but it was impossible, it was all they could think about. 

 

“Hmm,” Ai replied softly, his gaze fixed down on his knees. He didn’t want to see the scenery fly by outside, he didn’t want to see how close their goodbye was getting. 

 

“Hey…thanks duckling, we’d be screwed without you,” Rin placed a hand on Ai’s head, ruffling his hair affectionately. 

 

“Rin,” lifting his head Ai looked at the other from beneath his now messy bangs. 

 

“You know my real name now, so can you stop calling me duckling?” he asked hopefully. It wasn’t that he really minded the nickname so much any more, but he wanted to hear Rin call him be his real name, just once. Sousuke had already done it. 

 

“Oh…ok, Ai,” Rin replied softly, a sad smile tugging at his lips. Hearing Rin call him not only by his first name, but calling him Ai lifted his spirits at least a little and Ai flushed happily, he would treasure the sound of them saying his name like that. 

 

“Thank you Rin.” 

 

The atmosphere in the back was getting too much for Sousuke, irritation and a hint of jealousy making him take a corner very suddenly and very sharply sending Rin, who hadn’t put his seat belt on flying to the other side of the car while Ai remained safely buckled in his seat. 

 

“Sousuke what they hell was that for?” 

 

“No reason,” the dark haired man shrugged innocently, as if he hadn’t done it on purpose. 

 

Grumbling to himself Rin quickly slid back into his seat, buckling up before Sousuke could find another corner to turn around. 

 

\- 

 

“We’re here,” Sousuke announced a short while later as he pulled into a deserted car park by an equally deserted beach. Although the weather was pretty warm it still wasn’t quite beach going season yet so there was no one else around. Here they would say their goodbyes. 

 

Rin climbed out of the car first, Sousuke following soon after and Ai, far more reluctantly, left the car last. 

 

It was getting late now, the sun slowly setting beyond the horizon casting a deep orange glow over everything. The sound of the ocean and the cry of a few stray seagulls was their only accompaniment. It was a beautiful sight, romantic, but Ai found it hard to appreciate. After this he was sure he would never feel the same about the ocean again. 

 

“So this is it,” he said, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon wondering how far away Sousuke and Rin would be away from him after this. Would he ever see them again? He didn’t want to turn around, didn’t want to face them and go through such a painful goodbye. 

 

But he had to, this was his last chance. A smile fixed firmly in place he turned to face them hoping that the tears he was currently holding back weren’t obvious. 

 

“It’s been fun,” He tried to joke weakly. 

 

Sousuke was currently avoiding looking at Ai and Rin was giving him such a sympathetic look that it only made things more painful. 

 

“Yeah….fun…” Rin shuffled his feet, clearly as lost for words as Ai was. 

 

“I’m really going to miss you,” Ai sniffed, feeling the tears behind his eyes make a renewed effort to fall. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, willing them back. He couldn’t cry. Not yet. 

 

“Yeah, we’ll miss you too,” Rin said sincerely, and even Sousuke gave a small sound of agreement. 

 

“Please at least try to stop the kidnapping thing though ok, I won’t be able to help you next time,” he teased. Trying to act normal, trying not to make things awkward. 

 

A seagull screamed loudly, filling the silence that fell after those words. Now was the time to say goodbye. There was nothing else to say. 

 

Sousuke sighed heavily, casting a side long glance to Rin that clearly told the red head something because suddenly he was smiling. 

 

“Really?!” Rin bounced excitedly and Sousuke nodded in reply. And just like that something had been decided between the two of them. Before Ai could even ask what it was he found both his hands being held tightly by the other two, Sousuke on his right and Rin on his left. 

 

“Well you could still come with us, you know keep us in line and all that!” Rin said, his grin growing.

 

“What…but I thought…” Ai quickly looked at Sousuke, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. Sousuke was looking at him now with an earnest expression Ai found hard to read. 

 

“We’d rather have you with us, liability and all, than be without you,” he said honestly, ignoring Rin as the red head stifled a little laugh at the corny line. 

 

“I…” Ai tried to speak, then chocked on his words as he finally lost the battle and allowed his tears to fall. 

 

“Woah wait you don’t have to come with us, it’s only a suggestion!” Rin said quickly, panicking now. 

 

“No, I want to come with you!” Ai said urgently, squeezing their hands tighter so they wouldn’t let go. 

 

“I really really really want to stay with you!” Still crying he smiled through his tears. 

 

“Honestly,” Sousuke muttered under his breath, leaning in close to kiss away the trail of tears on Ai’s cheek. 

 

“Don’t cry Ai,” he said softly into the other boy’s ear as Rin moved in to kiss away the tears on Ai’s other cheek. 

 

They remained like that for a while, holding hands and kissing away Ai’s tears, all of them pretending that Rin wasn’t crying too, until all of Ai’s tears had dried up. 

 

“Come on we should get going, it would suck if we got caught now,” Sousuke gave Ai’s hand a gentle tug and together the three of them moved over to the car, Rin still sniffling. 

 

“Want me to drive Sou?” he offered, rubbing at his red eyes. 

 

“No it’s fine, you keep Ai company,” Sousuke shrugged off the offer, holding the back door of the car open for the other two. He didn’t want to risk a teary eyed driver. 

 

“Thanks Sousuke,” Rin said, kissing the other on the cheek before he climbed into the car. 

 

“Thank you Sousuke,” Ai echoed, kissing the other cheek before following Rin into the car. Clearing his throat with a cough Sousuke quickly slammed the door closed, turning away sharply to hide his blush. 

 

He climbed into the driver’s seat and took off. They didn’t really have a plan of where to go, not yet, but as long as they were together then they’d manage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a chapter 5 eventually but that hasn't been written yet. It shall be a fluffy possibly smutty omake, look forward to it

**Author's Note:**

> * cluedo or clue, whatever you know it best as


End file.
